Hierarchy and conservatism in the contributions of resources to entrepreneurial activity

Abstract

This study addresses the relationship between the munificence offered by a country’s proximate institutions in terms of a critical financial resource (informal investments) and human resource (entrepreneurship education) and its early-stage entrepreneurial activity. We also examine how this relationship might be moderated by underlying cultural values. Our main thesis is that the positive effects of resource munificence of proximate institutions on early-stage entrepreneurial activity should be attenuated in countries with a more hierarchical and conservative culture. We test our hypotheses using a multi-source dataset that spans 42 countries.