Well-being Of Entrepreneurs Research Articles

The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in the Relationship between Big Five Personality Traits and Psychological Well-Being: A Study of Indian Entrepreneurs

With the rise in entrepreneurship and the challenges entrepreneurs have to face, their psychological well-being gets affected. Personality factors have been seen to impact psychological well-being. This relationship is also mediated by other contributing factors. The present study was undertaken to determine the relationship between the big five personality traits and psychological well-being of entrepreneurs along with the mediating effect of psychological capital on the personality psychological well-being relationship. A sample of 124 entrepreneurs operating in the city of Mumbai was selected for the purpose. Data was collected using the survey method and correlation, regression and mediation analysis were performed to analyze the data. Results indicated personality traits and psychological capital are significantly positively related to psychological well-being of entrepreneurs. Psychological capital mediates the personality well-being relationship. Implications for educational and training purposes are discussed.

Considering Education for Opportunity versus Necessity-based Entrepreneurs: Does Income Lead to Greater Entrepreneurial Well-Being

This study is motivated through the paradox on the well-being of self-employed that self-employment is associated with greater satisfaction across various domains despite the lower income levels of such entrepreneurs. Since not all self-employed gain higher returns to income, there is a need to question to what extent income contributes to well-being as well as the most critical factors such as education or the reason that the entrepreneur starts a new business could play a role in this relationship between income and well-being. Using GEM’s data on entrepreneurs from a wide set of countries all over the world, the effect of income on entrepreneurial well-being is tested treating education as the moderator across necessity and opportunity entrepreneurs. While necessity entrepreneurs with relatively lower education levels gain higher returns to income, opportunity entrepreneurs gain higher returns to income when their education levels are higher. The results shed light on how the effect of income on entrepreneurial well-being changes adversely with the increasing education levels for different entrepreneurial motivations.

Entrepreneurs and Well-Being: New Insights

The benefits of creating and owning a business are often displayed as desirable, and some studies suggest entrepreneurs have better psychological resources and well-being than employees. At the same time, the stressors of managing a business are manifold, and studies show that the well-being and health of entrepreneurs is an important predictor for work behaviour and company success. While the study of psychology in entrepreneurship and studies on well-being of entrepreneurs are increasing, current research provides only limited understanding in terms of i) which stressors and resources relate to which aspects of well-being, ii) what the processes are that connect stressors, resources and well-being in the entrepreneurial context, iii) what can be practically suggested to entrepreneurs, and iv) what are the effects of the cycle of the company and firm growth. This symposium brings together five empirical articles that aim to address these gaps. Following the presentations, Dr. Michael Frese, a major contributor to this literature will serve as discussant to provide suggestions for future research and practice and lead an interactive group discussion.

An Examination of Moonlighting on Entrepreneurial Well-Being

We advance hybrid entrepreneurship research by introducing the concept of moonlighting–the process of working a “secondary job” while retaining an existing and primary business venture¬. Additionally, we contribute to entrepreneurial stress literature by examining moonlighting as a coping mechanism. Using data from 293 entrepreneurs over a period of several months, we analyze the impact of moonlighting on entrepreneurial performance and stress; we find consistent evidence of our hypothesis that moonlighting is positively associated with entrepreneur’s financial performance and with their levels of stress. Overall, our findings contribute to a better understanding of entrepreneurial stress and provides further evidence of a direct tradeoff between financial performance and work related stress.

Beyond Women's Liberation: How Gender Equality Shapes Paths to the Well-being of Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs, including male and female entrepreneurs, pursues well-being through their entrepreneurship. The questions of this paper are as follows: First, how can entrepreneurs achieve their wel...

Entrepreneurial Resilience: Locus of Control and Well-being of Entrepreneurs

For entrepreneurs, financial adversity is one of the most dominant causes of stress. Such entrepreneurial adversity can, on the one hand, lead to successful coping or, on the other hand, to maladaptive coping, helplessness, and desperation. In this study, author explores locus of control as psychological capital that contributes to entrepreneurial resilience in the face of prolonged economic adversity. Findings from a sample of 135 entrepreneurs show that entrepreneurial adversity is negatively associated with job satisfaction and self-reported health. Secondly, results reveal a significant moderating effect of locus of control on the adversity-well-being relationship.

Positive Stress and Reflective Practice Among Entrepreneurs

While heavy stress loads seem an unavoidable aspect of entrepreneurship, the positive side of stress (often referred to as ‘eustress’) remains a neglected area of research. This paper contributes to entrepreneurship research by linking the research streams of eustress and reflective practice. As a tool for analysing and developing thoughts and actions, reflective practice plays an important role in the interpretative work essential to positive stress experiences. Following an overview of approaches to stress at work, eustress and reflective practice, the paper explores how entrepreneurs experience the role of positive stress and reflective practice in their work and describes the reflective tools utilized by entrepreneurs in promoting eustress. The research process was designed to support reflective dialogue among the 21 Finnish entrepreneurs from different fields who participated in the study, with results based mainly on qualitative interviews. Nine of the interviewed entrepreneurs also kept a positive stress diary, including a three-day physiological measurement analysing their heartbeat variability. The findings suggest that positive stress and reflective practice are intertwined in the experiences of entrepreneurs and illustrate the role of reflective practice as a crucial toolset for promoting positive stress, comprising six reflective tools: studying oneself, changing one’s point of view, putting things into perspective, harnessing a feeling of trust, regulating resources and engaging in dialogue. Individual reflective capabilities vary, and a theory-driven division of reflective practice into individual, social and contextual dimensions is considered useful in understanding those differences. The research offers a starting point for exploring how eustress and reflective practice affect the well-being of entrepreneurs.

Subsistence Marketplaces: Looking Back, Looking Forward

illinois.edu). Over the past decade and a half, the study of subsistence marketplaces has garnered significant attention among marketing scholars, as evidenced by the burgeoning body of literature on the topic. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing (JPPM) has played an instrumental role in nurturing scholarship in this arena. The journal’s focus on the nexus between marketing, public policy, and societal wellbeing (Stewart 2013) finds a natural confluence with the inherent goals of subsistence marketplaces research. Prior work published in JPPM has (1) advanced our understanding of subsistence marketplaces, (2) informed social initiatives in subsistence communities (Viswanathan et al. 2009), and (3) articulated policy recommendations for enhancing consumer and entrepreneurial well-being in subsistence contexts (Viswanathan et al. 2012). This JPPM special section provides further impetus to research subsistence marketplaces. The introduction to the special section takes the form of a narrative looking back and looking forward in relation to the stream of research under the rubric of subsistence marketplaces. The articles in this special section and other articles that may appear in a subsequent issue of JPPM stemmed from the fifth of a biennial conference series on subsistence marketplaces. The call for papers for this special section especially welcomed papers presented at the Fifth Subsistence Marketplaces Conference (June 13–15, 2014) but was open to any contributor(s) regardless of participation in the conference. After providing a background of the conference, we summarize the articles in this special section and briefly discuss the stream of work on subsistence marketplaces, the pathways traversed by previous research, and potential avenues forward.

The financing of small firms in Beijing, China: exploring the extent of credit constraints

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to utilise a sample of 384 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who applied for external finance in the Beijing area of China to investigate the characteristics of firms against: the amount of external finance sought, the amount received, and the proportion of external finance which was received from the sought finance. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a survey of SMEs in Beijing, China, undertaken between July and December 2007 where a response rate of 37.67 per cent was obtained. The survey was translated from English to Chinese, and then back translated from Chinese to English by academics with input from businesses. The sample of 384 firms is robust. Findings – Overall, there is little evidence in the sample of Chinese SMEs that innovative firms face discrimination from providers of credit. However, where innovation is measured by inputs (specifically R & D), providers of credit appear less comfortable. Three other factors were more important and were statistically significant at the 5 per cent level. For example, exporters were less likely to receive a greater proportion of their sought finance; and manufacturing firms were more likely than service sector firms, and limited liability companies were more likely than extended sole proprietorship firms to obtain a greater proportion of the external finance which they sought. Research limitations/implications – The sample for the research is from Beijing. Researchers may extent and role out the research to other parts of China. Practical implications – Practically, the authors explore variations in firm-level characteristics by: the amount of external finance sought, the amount of external finance received, and the ratio of “sought” to “received” external finance. In this way, the research questions are concerned with understanding which “types” of firms seek most bank finance, and which are most successful. This information is of benefit to SMEs, policy makers and those who work in the finance industry. Social implications – Access to finance is a cause of stress and anxiety to many SMEs. A greater understanding of the accessing of finance in Beijing China will allow entrepreneurs to be better placed to reflect upon their businesses and their suitability to pursue finance. This can help the economic and social well-being of entrepreneurs and their employees. Originality/value – There are comparatively few large scale surveys which have been undertaken of access to finance by SMEs in China, and within this field there is very little research which has been undertaken to look at innovators and non-innovators. The results allow us to have a better understanding of how much finance SMEs in Beijing are seeking, obtaining, and the proportion of finance received from that sought, and the extent to which innovation and other business and owner-manager characteristics are influential.

Are you happy yet? Entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being

This study examines the relationship between entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being and flow, productivity, and intrinsically-based success or extrinsically-based success. Subjective well-being and flow have been studied in educational, health, and work environments; however, only recently has the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2013 examined well-being of entrepreneurs. In entrepreneurs it is particularly important because understanding the relationship between subjective well-being (happiness), and the factors of flow, productivity, and definition of success can influence entrepreneurial decision-making and overall firm performance. A survey of 191 entrepreneurs in Florida and California was used to collect data that was then analyzed using factor analysis, correlation, and regression. Entrepreneurial well-being was shown to increase with the presence of flow, intrinsic definitions of success, and productivity in entrepreneurs. Extrinsic factors that entrepreneurs use to define success, however, were negatively linked to well-being.

Influences on happiness and subjective well-being of entrepreneurs and labour: Kwazulu-Natal case study

Globally, individuals seek happiness, but not everybody is happy. Economic reasoning suggests that rising incomes with expansions in GDP enhance the quality of life and subjective well-being. This paper examines the influences on individual happiness, using ordinal logistic regression and chi-square analyses. Based on the findings of a small case study, the chi-square test indicated that a significant relationship exists between gender, education, ethnicity, children, marital status, employment relations, income and self-reported happiness. The study also found that, on average, happier people tended to be educated, married with children, and treated fairly at work. But having too many children produced a decrement in individual happiness. The ordinal regression results indicate that an individual’s education, gender, age distribution and work environment are influential in producing higher levels of happiness. Entrepreneurs were found to have a significantly higher mean level of happiness than employees. In the workplace, individuals who experienced personal growth and were able to contribute their ideas tended to be happier, relative to others who perceived themselves to be ‘restricted’.

WELL-BEING OF ENTREPRENEURS - INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON BASED ON GEM DATA

Purpose: Entrepreneurs start up their businesses for a variety of reasons. Among those are selffulfillment and expected increase in quality of life. The paper aims at measuring the difference of well-being of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs in cross-country analysis. Also presented are results for entrepreneurs at various stages of activity, opportunity entrepreneurs and necessity ones and female and male entrepreneurs. Methodology/approach: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data is used to test the hypotheses. In 2013 there was a special topic in GEM concerning well-being and quality of life. The sample of 70 countries taking part in GEM is used. To test the hypotheses the dependent samples t-test is used. Findings: Research results show that well-being of entrepreneurs is higher than of non-entrepreneurs, well-being of owners of established businesses is higher than of early-stage entrepreneurs, well-being of opportunity entrepreneurs is higher than of necessity entrepreneurs and that there is no statistically significant difference between well-being of female and male entrepreneurs. Implications/limitations: The study has implications for quality of life research by indicating some of the factors that infl uence the well-being of people involved in business activity. The limitation of the study is using country as the level of analysis instead of using data at individual level that was not available at the time of conducting the research. Originality/value: Some of the relationships presented in the paper have not been researched yet. The main value of the paper is taking the next step in uncovering the patters of well-being of entrepreneurs.

Influences on happiness and subjective well-being of entrepreneurs and labour: KwaZulu-Natal case study

Globally, individuals seek happiness, but not everybody is happy. Economic reasoning suggests that rising incomes with expansions in GDP enhance the quality of life and subjective well-being. This paper examines the influences on individual happiness, using ordinal logistic regression and chi-square analyses. Based on the findings of a small case study, the chi-square test indicated that a significant relationship exists between gender, education, ethnicity, children, marital status, employment relations, income and self-reported happiness. The study also found that, on average, happier people tended to be educated, married with children, and treated fairly at work. But having too many children produced a decrement in individual happiness. The ordinal regression results indicate that an individual’s education, gender, age distribution and work environment are influential in producing higher levels of happiness. Entrepreneurs were found to have a significantly higher mean level of happiness than employees. In the workplace, individuals who experienced personal growth and were able to contribute their ideas tended to be happier, relative to others who perceived themselves to be ‘restricted’.

Happinomics among Factors of Production using a Principal Component Analysis Approach: A Case Study of Labour and Entrepreneurs’ Subjective Happiness in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Amidst the recent global financial crisis, there is a surge of interest in happiness. All of us want to have satisfying lives. Yet, not everybody is happy, even among the wealthy. Believing that happiness lies through the satisfaction of physical desires and material possessions, many individuals work hard to earn income, often at the expense of leisure and good social relationships. This paper examines the determinants of subjective well-being of entrepreneurs and workers as a group in a South African province, using the principal component approach. Various components emerged as happiness--influencing factors, jointly explaining about 70 per cent of the variation in self-reported well-being. These sets are related to asset ownership, family togetherness and personal attributes, household characteristics, human and social capital, future financial security (pension), work relationships, and community involvement. Religion and creativity account for almost a tenth of the variation in subjective well-being. Income is relevant but not found to be the main determinant of a satisfying life. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n4p99

An Entrepreneurial Well-being Model based on GEM Data for Spain

The Economics of Happiness is one of the research areas of greatest growth in recent years. Throughout this work, a venture based model in which satisfaction of Spanish entrepreneurs with their professional life is performed. We analyze the responses of 9,989 entrepreneurs using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), and six hypothesis are discussed. The results show that, for the Spanish case, there is a strong consistency in the results the opportunity entrepreneurs present greater satisfaction than necessity entrepreneurs.

Growth perceptions of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SME's) — The case of South Tyrol

Globalization and internationalization tendencies imply new challenges for small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), which are either facing the pressure to achieve short‐term profits, or have to attract new market segments by means of long‐term strategies. This trend raises the question of growth perspectives of SMEs and their future development. The paper gives an insight into selected growth theories, entrepreneurship and SMEs, firm competencies, core competencies and the wellbeing of entrepreneurs as a growth indicator. The majority of SMEs are run by the family and characterized by low growth rates or even stagnation, and relatively low market entry and qualification barriers. An exploratory study was carried out among 3‐ and 4‐star hotels in South Tyrol (Italy) in 2004 for a better understanding of the driving forces, growth barriers, entrepreneur's satisfaction, and prerequisites and incentives of growth.