Opportunity Beliefs Research Articles

R&D Accounting Treatment, R&D State and Tax Avoidance: With a Focus on Biotech Firms

This study examines the correlation among R&D accounting treatment, R&D state and tax avoidance behavior, with a focus on biotech firms. Findings from the analysis show that most firms are unlikely to capitalize R&D in a steady state; however, in the case of biotech firms, this is not the case. This may be due to biotech firms’ accounting choice to capitalize R&D outlays based on a strong belief in future opportunities of commercial success. Moreover, the analysis of tax avoidance behavior finds that firms with low capitalization in an R&D steady state have a positive correlation with tax avoidance, whereas biotech firms do not. The results imply that biotech firms focus on sustainable commercial success unlike the general patterns of other industries.

The Vicious Cycle of Economic Inequality: The Role of Ideology in Shaping the Relationship Between “What Is” and “What Ought to Be” in 41 Countries

People’s desired levels of inequality are informed by the levels of inequality they perceive to exist. Perceived economic inequality is used as a reference point in determining people’s ideal level of inequality. However, recent research has suggested that the strength of this relationship depends on people’s endorsement of system-justifying beliefs. The current article extends this body of research by replicating these findings across 41 countries (N = 42,078), showing the impact of system-justifying beliefs at both the individual and the societal levels. We conducted a multilevel analysis and found that the higher the endorsement of equality of opportunity beliefs—both at the individual and the societal levels—and meritocratic beliefs—at the individual level—the stronger the relationship between perceived and ideal economic inequality. These findings are in support of a motivated account of the perceived legitimacy of economic inequality.

МОДЕРНІЗАЦІЯ ОСВІТИ НА ГУМАНІСТИЧНИХ ЗАСАДАХ

The article reveals the essence of the concept “humanization of education” as one of the principles of current educational system modernization. The article is devoted to a research of formation of a concept of humanity. In the article the concept of scientific and humanistic outlook during an era of crisis transformations is specified. The attention to the formation of a concept of humanity and definition of its separate characteristics is paid. It allows to allocate a way of practical systematization of properties of the humanity, humanistic culture of the personality concepts, promotes the development of a technique of formation of such qualities as: aspiration to knowledge, persistence, truthfulness, adherence to principles, care of people, skill to communicate, a scientific initiative, independence of thinking, respect for thoughts of colleagues, ability to respect the personality, ability to inspire belief in own forces and opportunities of people.In the article is attempted to understand the humanism in the education. In the field of education of young people the humanism progress trends of education are the dominant factor of progress. Humanization educations should become an obligatory condition of pedagogical technologies of learning and education of state-of-the-art youth. The education is seen as an environment in which the personality of modern person becomes and develops. The paper is aimed at analyzing the problem of education as factor of humanization of society; Humanism in its global meaning is a proclamation of human inherent value. The modern pedagogical space concentrates on the global crisis and necessity to search for society with humanistic focus. The educational system had been unchangeable for a long time and responded to the social challenges. The paper reveals the main tendencies in education and its development, which can appear to be the instrument of society humanization.

Inequality of Opportunity, Governance and Individual Beliefs

Inequality of opportunity – that is, how a person’s potential to succeed in life is determined by the circumstances of their birth – is the result of an economy that has failed to fairly tie incentive to effort and investment. But any limitations on economic activity caused by this failure may depend on whether people believe the system is unfair, and how well governing institutions safeguard fair play. This paper looks at whether inequality of opportunity corresponds to beliefs about fairness, and whether good governance can be a substitute for high levels of inequality of opportunity.

International entrepreneurship beyond individuals and firms: On the systemic nature of international opportunities

The present study approaches opportunities in international entrepreneurship from a systemic perspective. Based on research on the collectiveness of opportunities in international entrepreneurship and the concepts of activity and object from activity theory, we develop a systemic conceptualization of opportunity-oriented international entrepreneurship. Through an empirical study in Finland and Israel, we depict six collective opportunity beliefs, considered from the viewpoints of society, international venture, and outcome expectations. Furthermore, we induce three modalities for international opportunity as the object of collective activity and model systemic opportunity shaping as the core activity of international entrepreneurship.

Exposure to rising inequality shapes Americans’ opportunity beliefs and policy support

Economic inequality has been on the rise in the United States since the 1980s and by some measures stands at levels not seen since before the Great Depression. Although the strikingly high and rising level of economic inequality in the nation has alarmed scholars, pundits, and elected officials alike, research across the social sciences repeatedly concludes that Americans are largely unconcerned about it. Considerable research has documented, for instance, the important role of psychological processes, such as system justification and American Dream ideology, in engendering Americans' relative insensitivity to economic inequality. The present work offers, and reports experimental tests of, a different perspective-the opportunity model of beliefs about economic inequality. Specifically, two convenience samples (study 1, n = 480; and study 2, n = 1,305) and one representative sample (study 3, n = 1,501) of American adults were exposed to information about rising economic inequality in the United States (or control information) and then asked about their beliefs regarding the roles of structural (e.g., being born wealthy) and individual (e.g., hard work) factors in getting ahead in society (i.e., opportunity beliefs). They then responded to policy questions regarding the roles of business and government actors in reducing economic inequality. Rather than revealing insensitivity to rising inequality, the results suggest that rising economic inequality in contemporary society can spark skepticism about the existence of economic opportunity in society that, in turn, may motivate support for policies designed to redress economic inequality.

Emotion Appraisals Driving the Formation of Opportunity Desirability and Feasibility Beliefs (WITHDRAWN)

Desirability and feasibility beliefs about an entrepreneurial opportunity are antecedents of entrepreneurial action, but the way such beliefs form and the distinctive cognitive–emotional mechanisms underlying their formation remain unclear. Using evidence about belief-specific cognitive contents from an entrepreneurial action model and belief-specific cognitive processes from construal-level theory, the current study empirically demonstrates the need to disentangle desirability and feasibility opportunity beliefs; it also investigates the indirect effects of three distinct emotions (anger, fear, and happiness) on the formation of both desirability and feasibility beliefs, through the cognitive appraisals of controllability. An experimental study (N = 191) affirms the distinctiveness and interconnectedness of desirability and feasibility beliefs and reveals a significant, positive, direct effect of anger on opportunity desirability belief. Anger, fear, and happiness have significant, negative, indirect effects on desirability belief through cognitive appraisals of controllability; however, no significant indirect effects emerge from these three emotions to feasibility belief. The results thus shed new light on entrepreneurs’ inner cognitive and emotional belief formation processes.

Opportunity beliefs and class differences in subjective status injustice during the Great Recession in Iceland

Sociologists theorize that opportunity beliefs shape whether individuals see their status in society as just or unjust – a topic that is broadly relevant to research linking social structure to emotions and behaviors. Two prominent theories, however, entail competing propositions. The dominant ideology thesis suggests that believing in opportunity barriers increases subjective status injustice, especially for lower class individuals. In contrast, relative deprivation theory implies that believing in restricted opportunities deters upward comparison among the lower classes, potentially reducing class differences in subjective status injustice. Relationships between class position, opportunity beliefs, and subjective status injustice were studied using survey data gathered during the Great Recession in Iceland. The findings indicate that beliefs in opportunity barriers are widespread, yet few see their social status as unjust. Moreover, only opportunity barriers stemming from political ties and gender increase subjective status injustice, especially so in the case of political ties among lower class individuals. It is likely that this latter sentiment was made particularly significant during the recession by an intense moral discourse condemning nepotism and cronyism. Because these two opportunity constraints are widely condemned in Iceland, we suggest that only opportunity barriers defined as social problems in a given society are salient enough to influence status justice evaluations.

Is that an opportunity? An attention model of top managers' opportunity beliefs for strategic action

Research summary: Exploiting opportunities is critical to a firm's competitive advantage. Not surprisingly, there has been considerable interest in the processes by which top managers allocate attention to potential opportunities. Although such investigations have largely focused on top‐down processes for allocating attention to the environment, some studies have explored bottom‐up processes. In this article, we consider both top‐down and bottom‐up processing to develop a model by which top managers form opportunity beliefs for strategic action depending on the allocation of transient and sustained attention. Specifically, this attentional model provides insights into how a top manager's attention is allocated to identify potential opportunities from environmental change and explores how different modes of attentional engagement impact the likelihood of forming beliefs about radical and incremental opportunities requiring strategic action.Managerial summary: Managers are interested in noticing and exploiting opportunities because the exploitation of an opportunity represents an important strategic action. Noticing and exploiting opportunities depends on how and where top managers allocate their attention. Managers can focus attention based on their knowledge and experience or as a result of something in the environment capturing their attention. In this paper, we consider both knowledge‐driven and environment‐driven processes for allocating attention to form opportunity beliefs. This opportunity belief arises from a two stage process. The first stage explains how a top manager identifies environmental changes as potential opportunities. The second stage explains how the top manager forms a belief that these identified environmental changes represent a radical or incremental opportunity worthy of exploitation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The formation of opportunity beliefs among university entrepreneurs: an empirical study of research- and non-research-driven venture ideas

Opportunity beliefs, in other words the beliefs of a potential entrepreneur about the feasibility and market fit of a venture idea, are considered as a key driver of entrepreneurial action. The entrepreneur’s existing knowledge plays an important role in reducing the uncertainty surrounding a venture idea, thereby contributing to the formation of strong opportunity beliefs. We develop and test a model which incorporates different types of knowledge that can be considered relevant for the formation of opportunity beliefs. Following a screening of 5955 students at 12 German universities, we identify a sample of 292 aspiring entrepreneurs who evaluate their own venture ideas. We analyze the determinants of opportunity beliefs and entrepreneurial action using structural equation modeling. Empirical evidence suggests that different types of knowledge are relevant depending on the venture idea pursued. Research-driven venture ideas benefit from industry experience, whereas general human capital is important for other types of ideas. We also find divergent relationships between opportunity beliefs and entrepreneurial action. The results contribute to our understanding of how opportunity beliefs are formed and how they relate to entrepreneurial action under different conditions of uncertainty. Our study has practical implications for entrepreneurship education and the support of university start-ups.

Making it personal: Opportunity individuation and the shaping of opportunity beliefs

We develop a model that focuses on the individuation of opportunity beliefs. We adopt inferences from the ecology literature and integrate those with mental model theory to examine the ‘individuation’ of opportunity as the result of the interplay between industry conditions and person-specific factors. We test our predictions using conjoint analysis of 2880 opportunity decisions. We find that an entrepreneur's related knowledge, motivation to evaluate the opportunity, prior failure, and fear of failure shape perceptions of opportunity attractiveness as one individuates exogenous opportunity information. We articulate our findings as evidence that when combined with opportunity related data, an individual's cognitive resources play an important role as one forms opportunity beliefs about the personal attractiveness of pursing an opportunity.

The effects of entrepreneurship education - does gender matter?

This article asks whether entrepreneurship education have the same impact on women and men with regard to perceptions of business skills, career preferences and belief in local business opportunities. We examine the company programme (CP), a programme taught to 250,000 secondary school pupils in 37 European countries. The data includes interviews with 1,187 24 to 25 years old in Norway, and half of the sample had formerly participated in CP. Controlling for competing explanations, CP has a positive impact on women’s perception of business skills, but no impact on male’s perceptions of business skills. CP has a positive impact on men’s preference for self-employment, but no impact on women’s career preference. Finally, CP had no impact on belief in local business opportunities. Females are underrepresented vis-à-vis males on all dimensions investigated whether they have participated in CP or not. CP ought to be adjusted to have an even stronger influence on women.

Not All Nonlabelers Are Created Equal

Past research regarding feminist identity has revealed that a significant number of women endorse feminist attitudes yet reject a feminist identity. In the current study, we sought to examine whether these nonlabeling women fall into two distinct groups: (a) one that falls on the same ideological continuum of their feminist peers and (b) the other that represents an attitudinally unique group of women characterized by their neoliberal beliefs that prioritize individual merit as the sole determinant of success. Two samples of undergraduate women self-reported their feminist identity and political and sexist attitudes. In our first sample ( N = 231), we used k-means cluster analysis to identify two types of nonlabelers: quasi-feminists and neoliberals. Results revealed that, despite both groups’ shared belief in gender equality, quasi-feminists reported relatively lower levels of meritocratic, just world, and modern sexist beliefs, all of which were similar to those of their feminist-identified peers, whereas neoliberals indicated stronger meritocratic, just world, and modern sexist beliefs. In our second sample ( N = 351), we replicated findings from our first sample and subsequently validated these groupings. Specifically, multivariate analysis of variance results demonstrated that, separate from the differences found in relation to the measures used for cluster analysis, quasi-feminists scored lower than neoliberals on measures of ambivalent sexism, social dominance, and equal opportunity beliefs. Women’s individual and collective welfare often hinges on their endorsement of neoliberal and feminist beliefs, especially in the face of unfair treatment. We suggest that activists and policy makers tailor strategies for engaging nonlabelers in the movement toward gender equality to the subtype of nonlabeler in question.

Individual Level Determinates of the Transition from Third to First-Person Opportunity Beliefs

The current study empirically examines the move from third-person to first-person opportunity beliefs. To that end, we develop an extension of McMullen and Shepherd’s (2006) two-stage action-based ...

Canadian public service employee satisfaction and its main drivers

AbstractUsing the results of the 2005 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), this paper identifies which factors have the greatest effect on employee satisfaction in the Canadian public service. Several hypotheses are tested against the backdrop of existing literature. In general, public servant satisfaction is affected by belief in opportunities for promotion, fair classification, adherence to client service standards, life balance, recognition by immediate supervisors, team relationships with colleagues, how well information is shared and, finally, belief in the abilities of senior management. Some interesting elaborations of these basic findings emerge when other variables are controlled. The discussion considers how the public service can be seen as a more desirable career choice.

Technology-Market Combinations and the Identification of Entrepreneurial Opportunities: An Investigation of the Opportunity-Individual Nexus

Although prior research has highlighted that individuals differ in their ability to identify opportunities for entrepreneurial action, little attention has been paid to the effects that differences among opportunities may have on their initial identification. Integrating theoretical work on the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities with cognitive science research on the use of similarity comparisons in making creative mental leaps, we develop a model of opportunity identification that includes both the independent effects of an opportunity idea's similarity characteristics and the interaction of these characteristics with an individual's knowledge and motivation. We test this model with a within-subject experiment in which we asked two samples of entrepreneurs to form beliefs about opportunity ideas for technology transfer. Results indicate that the superficial and structural similarities of technology-market combinations impact the formation of opportunity beliefs and that individual differences in prior knowledge and entrepreneurial intent moderate these relationships. In addition to casting light on cognitive reasons why some entrepreneurial opportunities may be more or less difficult to identify, our theorizing and findings point toward reasoning strategies that may facilitate the identification of multiple (and potentially more valuable) opportunities, not only for new technologies, but also for new products, services, and/or business models.

The formation of opportunity beliefs: overcoming ignorance and reducing doubt

AbstractAlthough (opportunity) beliefs are becoming increasingly recognized as fundamental to understanding entrepreneurial cognition and strategic action, little is understood about the mechanisms that are responsible for the formation and evolution of these beliefs. Introducing the mechanisms of gists, matching, and updating from philosophy's and psychology's coherence theory, we propose a theoretical framework to explain how third‐person opportunity beliefs (beliefs that one has recognized an opportunity for someone with the right knowledge and motivation) are formed and how they evolve to become first‐person opportunity beliefs (beliefs that one has recognized an opportunity for himself or herself). We conclude by examining how the model contributes to literatures ranging from entrepreneurial cognition and action, to strategic myopia and organizational attention, to opportunity recognition, discovery, and creation. Copyright © 2007 Strategic Management Society.

Stratification, Ideology, and Opportunity Beliefs Among Black Soldiers

While many social observers feel that the military offers blacks better opportunities than do civilian institutions, the overwhelming majority of the 454 black soldiers sampled in this study either equate the two sectors or rate civilian institutions as superior. Both position in the military hierarchy (rank) and ideological orientation (separatist, pluralist, or assimilationist) provide some assistance in differentiating those soldiers more likely to cite the military as comparatively advantageous for blacks. The author, who is presently researching political socialization among college students and continuing analysis of the data upon which this article is based, was Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame last year.