Gründungsdynamik in alternden Gesellschaften—das Beispiel Japan

Abstract

AbstractJapan has the largest proportion of elderly people in the world. Despite the widely held assumption that beyond a certain age, the economic dynamics in most people's lives decrease, elderly Japanese tend to remain economically active. In this work I investigate the relationship between demographic and economic changes with respect to entrepreneurship in Japan. Surprisingly, according to statistics, older Japanese are the ones most responsible for entrepreneurship. Considering entrepreneurship as an individual developmental process, three components are involved: „competency (Konnen),” „motivation (Wollen),” and „property or action rights (Durfen).ō In such a new life-situation as beginning an entrepreneurship, one must develop „from oneself.” Becoming an entrepreneur in Japan seems not to depend on the age of the individual per se but rather on the changing opportunity costs between being an employee and being an entrepreneur. In Japan, becoming an entrepreneur is a realistic option for retirees. ...