I investigate whether there is a causal relationship between physical health and entrepreneurship by exploiting the exogenous introduction of the British Clean Air Act (CAA). This legislation generated across-cohort differences in exposure to airborne pollution. A fuzzy regression discontinuity design is used to investigate the causal impact of improved health following the CAA on adult entrepreneurship outcomes. The results carry important implications for scholarship as well as policymakers, with many governments in emerging economies seeking to curb airborne pollution and improve health and economic outcomes for their citizens, while also seeking to promote entrepreneurship.

This study investigates how online and offline shareholder activism influences a firm’s innovation focus—on exploration or exploitation—in family and non-family firms. We theorize, from a mixed gamble perspective, that such activisms pose distinctive threats to a firm’s economic and non-economic interests. We analyze 7,887 firm-year observations from Chinese listed firms (2012–2022) and find that non-family firms are more likely than family firms to shift toward exploitation in response to offline activism, and family firms are more inclined to focus on exploration when facing online activism. Additionally, second-generation family firms are found to be more responsive than first-generation firms to both forms of shareholder activism.

We develop arguments against the objective opportunity construct and argue that “opportunities” should be understood as wholly and fundamentally subjective. We define and elaborate “opportunities” as expectations attainable only through intervening action, with requisite propositional attitudes of both desirability and feasibility. These revisions imply a fundamental shift in the foundations of entrepreneurship theory. Such a shift prompts us to rethink the nature of entrepreneurial cognition, allows us to elaborate the myriad—indeed endless—ways “opportunities” can manifest, and engenders clearer and more specific theorizing on the processual navigation of reality’s unfolding vis-à-vis “opportunity” expectations and consequent entrepreneurial plans.

Entrepreneurial performance is often right-skewed and heavy-tailed, yet empirical studies typically focus on average outcomes, assuming normality. Recent research addresses this by examining full performance distributions. We extend this work by introducing an intuitive framework with three distinct characteristics of distributional tails: (a) tail impact, the contribution of star performers relative to the rest; (b) tail extremity, the extent by which the highest performer exceeds the typical performer; and (c) tail frequency, the fraction of performers who are stars. We outline a methodological guide, offer illustrative examples, and provide R code to enrich future investigations of star performance in entrepreneurship.

Compassion ventures addressing human suffering after disasters are gaining attention in entrepreneurship research, yet little is known about their potential to expand beyond immediate response. This 19-month qualitative study examines a compassion venture amid the Russo-Ukrainian war and shows how self-reliant, joint, and political forms of entrepreneurial resourcefulness help compassion ventures emerge, formalize, and expand with key partners. We uncover how these forms interact, helping compassion ventures transition to enduring organizations over a prolonged crisis. We present a model of resourcefulness dynamics in compassion venture expansion, emphasizing its political dimension, and contribute to research on compassion venturing and entrepreneurial resourcefulness.

Entrepreneurship scholarship faces challenges related to diverse populations, striving to balance inclusivity with the recognition of unique entrepreneurial identities. Applying optimal distinctiveness theory, we explore the relationship between belongingness and uniqueness in entrepreneurship research. Catalyzed by Bakker and McMullen’s 2023 article on inclusivity in entrepreneurship, we utilized natural language processing to examine responses about inclusive entrepreneurship from 29 scholars dedicated to marginalized populations. Findings suggest that employing varied research methods and integrating structural and epistemological considerations can enhance our understanding of entrepreneurial heterogeneity. We advocate for entrepreneurship research that values individual experiences while promoting inclusive practices, highlighting the need for evolving scholarly paradigms to reflect entrepreneurial differences.

Building on the strategic entrepreneurship perspective and upper echelon theory, we examine the importance of private equity (PE) functional human capital and socio-demographic diversity for the success of the acquisitive growth strategy. Our focus is on the buyout lead partner team rather than on human capital at the collective PE firm (or fund) level. The results of our panel data survival models suggest that gender and age diversity, as well as the financial background, significantly accelerate both first and subsequent add-on acquisitions. The results are robust to alternative proxies, model specifications, and endogeneity checks. JEL Codes: G24, G34, J10, L26

This study advances the understanding of innovation across generations in family businesses by revealing how imprinting and self-determination shape innovation trajectories following succession. Through a case study of 16 Dutch family Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the food industry, we identified four innovation trajectories—Inherited, Ancillary, Synergistic, and Detached Innovation. We disentangle the effect of structural imprinting and behavioral imprinting on the successor and examine how successor self-determination mediates imprinting forces. We rebalance the emphasis on incumbent-centric family business studies and explain the heterogeneity of post-succession innovation outcomes. These insights offer new theoretical tools for understanding and managing innovation during critical transition periods.

Some research has suggested that investors prefer pitches made by men rather than women entrepreneurs, and physically attractive men entrepreneurs are even more successful than their physically unattractive counterparts. However, empirical evidence remains limited. We re-examine these findings using a large archival dataset with 9,285 entrepreneurs across 13 industries and 105 countries between the years of 2014 to 2018. Our results replicate the female penalty effect—women raised 12.9% less funds compared to men. However, we found that the physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs has a negative main effect on startups’ success, and that this effect is only significant for men entrepreneurs.

This study explores how societal-level institutional changes, specifically market transition in emerging economies such as China, shape entrepreneurial beliefs. While market transition is typically expected to foster rationalization and professionalism, thus diminishing traditional beliefs such as familism and nepotism, real-world observations suggest an opposite trend. To address this puzzle, we argue that, while market transition can facilitate the development of formal institutions, it also has unanticipated consequences, that is, a decline in social trust and an increase in psychological uncertainty, thus prompting entrepreneurs to adhere to traditional beliefs rather than adopt modern ones. In addition, we contend that entrepreneurs’ social origins moderate the impact of market transition on their beliefs because, as a key stratification mechanism, they can shape entrepreneurs’ vulnerability to declining social trust and heightened psychological uncertainty. Our analysis of national survey data on Chinese private entrepreneurs supports these arguments, thus offering a more nuanced understanding of how market transition influences entrepreneurial cognition and behavior and explaining the persistence of traditional beliefs despite market reforms.