Entrepreneurial Human Capital Research Articles

Cultivating entrepreneurial human capital in multinational corporations: An intercultural paradox mindset lens

The development of an entrepreneurial strategic orientation is of growing concern for global corporations. Through a human capital lens, we probe how and when firms can develop and cultivate managerial entrepreneurial resources; by explicitly encouraging cross-cultural experiences that stimulate systematic shifts in mindset and behavior. Drawing on paradox theory and intercultural psychology, we put forth a model positing that cross-cultural experience (an endowment firms can either hire for or facilitate themselves) develops managerial entrepreneurialism—consisting of (a) venture ideation, (b) opportunity recognition, and (c) entrepreneurial behavior—through the intervening mechanism of a paradox mindset. As a boundary condition we uncover that paradox mindset formation partially hinges on home cultural tightness-looseness. We employ three distinct experiments on multinational samples of individual professionals (n = 506), active entrepreneurs (n = 370), and current managers in global firms (n = 288) to test our theorizing. Finding general support for our model, with analyses yielding important theoretical and practical implications from non-findings too, we conclude that a paradox mindset is a necessary, but not de facto, mediating step between cross-cultural experience and the cultivation of entrepreneurial managers. We also find that paradox mindset formation is conditional and related to home cultural tightness-looseness.

ENTREPRENEURIAL HUMAN CAPITAL ON THE EMPOWERMENT OF ASNAF ENTREPRENEURS PLANNING IN THE STATE OF SELANGOR

This article investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial human capital and empowerment among asnaf entrepreneurs in Selangor, Malaysia. Drawing on a quantitative research approach, data was collected through surveys to assess entrepreneurial human capital and empowerment levels. Results indicate moderate levels of entrepreneurial competency among asnaf entrepreneurs, with strengths in idea generation and resilience, yet areas for improvement in financial management. Empowerment scores reflect a moderate level of autonomy and proactive engagement in income generation activities. The correlation analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant relationship between entrepreneurial human capital and empowerment. Findings underscore the importance of entrepreneurial skills in fostering empowerment among asnaf entrepreneurs, highlighting the need for ongoing training and support initiatives to enhance their business capabilities and contribute to community development. The study recommends commencing with asset mapping to recognize the potential within marginalized communities, then proceeding with targeted capacity building to foster entrepreneurship-based empowerment, utilizing the identified potential as criteria for selecting asnaf individuals for entrepreneurial projects.

SUFFICIENCY OF HUMAN CAPITAL IN SME: EVOLUTION OF SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Objective: This research aimed to explore the concept of sustainable competitive advantage concept in small medium-sized enterprise (SME) with collaborative capability and entrepreneur resilience as a mediating variable. It examined the relationship between human capital owned by entrepreneurs and sustainable competitive advantage with a focus on the woven sector, one of the largest tourism-supporting sectors in Bali. Method: entrprenereurs of SMEs in Bali, Indonesia completed 333 surveys, with each construct measured using an adopted and modified scale from existing studies. Additional analyses were performed on the collected data using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS_SEM) software. These analyses included regression, factor analysis, structural equation modelling with the boostrapping technique, reliability, validity, mediation and model fit indicates. Result: The results showed that the human capital of the entrepreneurs, which consisted of education and experience, cannot be a source of sustainable competitive advantage in SME due to low education levels and minimal experience in managing businesses. On the other hand, collaborative capability is one of capabilities needed to achieve sustainable competitive advantage because it helps overcome resource limitations and internal capability by collaborating with external parties. Furthermore, another dynamic capability needed is entrepreneur resilience which can help in dealing with environmental turbulence. This research further supports this assertion by showing a full mediation relationship, implying that the human capital of entrepreneurs is insufficient for SME to attain sustainable competitive advantage, necessitating collaborative capability and entrepreneur resilience as a mediating factor to achieve this objective.

Entrepreneurial Human Capital and Persistence Underperforming Firms

Inadequate provision of human capital components mismatches between an employee’s capabilities and the job required to be perform. Also, inadequate communication or feedback between the employees and the management remains the major challenges to organizations regardless of their nature and sizes. These challenges could lead to persistence underperformance of organization if the fail to take into cognizance. Therefore, adequate provisions of human capital components are the fundamental solutions to the problems of firms’ underperformance. This study examines human capitals and their influence on firm performance; and to build a conceptual model that explains the relationship between human capital and firm performance. The study employed the used of qualitative method of research which is based on secondary sources of data. The results of the study signify that human capital variables (training, skills developments, knowledge management, motivation, work experience and quality of education) lead to human capital effectiveness and have significant effect on firm performance. Based on the findings it was recommended that firms should therefore, come up with effective motivational such as training opportunities, skill development, recognition, and pay benefits plans in providing various human capital components as not only does its direct organizations to achieve greater performance but also it ensures them to remain competitive for their long-term survival.

The Influence of Cultural Capital of Guangdong Entrepreneurs on Enterprise Growth – Mediation of Innovation Behavior

Based on Bourdieu’s cultural capital theory, entrepreneur and enterprise growth theory, the purpose of this study is to deeply excavate the connotation of the concept of Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capita l by sorting out the literature related to cultural capital and economic development, entrepreneur, and enterprise growth, and deconstructs Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital. The constituent elements and functional functions of entrepreneurial cultural capital, analyze the similarities and differences between Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital and entrepreneurial human capital, entrepreneurial social capital, and entrepreneurial spirit, and explain Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital from the perspective of the mediating role of entrepreneurial innovation behavior. The research design consists of the mechanism of action on enterprise growth, and research hypotheses to be tested are put forward and empirically tested. The innovation of this research firstly re-examines the theory of entrepreneurial capital from the perspective of cultural capital, innovatively proposes the concept of Guangdong entrepreneurial cultural capital, and clarifies the connotation and functional value of Guangdong entrepreneurial cultural capital, which expands to a certain extent. The findings of this revealed the influencing factors of Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital and the influence path on enterprise growth, constructs a theoretical model of the influence of Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital on enterprise growth, and integrates Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital, entrepreneur innovation behavior and enterprise growth into the framework of the same research, and explores the impact and significance of entrepreneur innovation behavior on Guangdong entrepreneur cultural capital.

Employees' entrepreneurial human capital and firm performance

We introduce a new measure of human capital, defined as employees' former involvement in entrepreneurship. Such entrepreneurial human capital (EHC) complements traditional human capital measures accumulated through work experience and education. Using detailed longitudinal register data, we track the previous years of entrepreneurial experience for the population of employees in Swedish private sector firms. We provide evidence that higher EHC among employees is associated with significantly higher levels of firm productivity. The baseline result implies that a 10 % increase in employees being former entrepreneurs increases firm-level productivity by 3.9 %. Additionally, we provide evidence that heterogeneity in employees' previous entrepreneurial experience (e.g., the reason for entering and exiting entrepreneurship, type of venture, length of entrepreneurial experiences, and relatedness of technology) influences the impact of EHC on productivity. The results are shown to be robust to various estimation techniques, alternative definitions of EHC, and other performance measures.

Africa rising: Opportunities for advancing theory on people, institutions, and the nation state in international business.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41267-022-00581-z.

Entrepreneurship as a multidisciplinary phenomenon: culture and individual perceptions in business creation

PropósitoEl emprendimiento se presenta como vehículo de innovación y desarrollo social. Dada la importancia del fenómeno, el objetivo de esta investigación es analizar las dimensiones psicológica y sociológica del emprendimiento a través de los factores que explican las percepciones individuales y la cultura de apoyo al emprendimiento.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueA partir de datos GEM obtenidos mediante la Encuesta de Población Adulta (N = 2,500) en Andalucía (España), se desarrolla una metodología cuantitativa, concretamente un análisis multivariante basado en regresiones lineales de cuatro etapas.ResultadosLas variables consideradas no explican en la misma medida la dimensión psicológica y la sociológica. Se evidencia la existencia de homogeneidad cultural interprovincial, la importancia de las variables sociodemográficas y la influencia de las expectativas y las experiencias vinculadas al emprendimiento, especialmente en la formación de percepciones individuales.Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigaciónSe propone la réplica del estudio a nivel nacional e internacional para ahondar en las diferencias culturales que condicionan la creación empresarial. Se considera interesante incluir nuevas variables asociadas con el capital humano emprendedor.Implicaciones prácticasMejora del diseño y la implementación de políticas y programas dirigidos a potenciar el emprendimiento, a través del fomento de las percepciones individuales favorables y la cultura emprendedora.Originalidad/valorLa originalidad reside en la consideración de las percepciones individuales y la cultura de apoyo al emprendimiento como variables dependientes, ya que normalmente se incorporan como factores explicativos. Se contribuye al avance del conocimiento sobre el fenómeno emprendedor a través de dos enfoques, el psicológico y el sociológico.

Regional crowdfunding and high tech entrepreneurship

• Crowdfunding in entrepreneurial categories precedes an increase in high tech firm starts in a region • Crowdfunding in entrepreneurial categories precedes a decrease in low tech firm starts in a region • Crowdfunding is more likely in highly educated and urban regions • Despite the greater frequency of crowdfunding in highly educated and urban regions, the impact of a crowdfunding campaign on high tech firm starts is greater in poor regions Despite extensive though mostly independent literatures on Crowdfunding and regional entrepreneurship, there exists little work that examines how Crowdfunding influences the rate and type of new venture formation in a region, what types of regions are more likely to experience Crowdfunding activity, and what types of regions are more likely to experience additional firm starts following Crowdfunding activity. We argue that Crowdfunding increases high tech and high growth regional firm starts by increasing crucial early-stage funding, providing the opportunity to signal success and legitimacy, facilitating access to entrepreneurial human capital, supporting inexperienced entrepreneurs with education and advice, and providing inexpensive market feedback. Instrumental variable regressions illustrate how Kickstarter campaigns precede an increase in high technology and growth in Crunchbase listings and a weak decrease in more conventional and local business registrations. While more per capita crowdfunding occurs in large cities relative to smaller cities, college towns, and poor regions with weak human capital, the impact per campaign appears greater in the poorer regions.

How Entrepreneurial Experiences Foster Crises Resilience - Survival and Performance of New Ventures

This paper estimates the relationship between entrepreneurial human capital (EHC) of employees in new firms and incumbents and their resilience to major global crises using individual and firm-level data for 1997-2016. EHC is measured as employees' previous experience being entrepreneurs. We use longitudinal register data for Sweden covering the IT-crisis 2001-2003 and the Great Recession 2008-2009. The results show that having employees with an entrepreneurial background decreases the probability of exiting especially for the new ventures, albeit the effect differs between these two crises. We elaborate with alternative measures of EHC, distribute it on occupational function, educational level, and the reason for employees quitting their previous entrepreneurial endeavors (closures, mergers and acquisitions). In addition, we implement three different estimation techniques. Our results remain robust to all these alterations. Besides providing new empirical insights, we argue that our findings are of theoretical interest as well as have practical and policy implications.

Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship: The importance of skill variety.

Given that skill variety is widely regarded a key component of entrepreneurial human capital, gender differences in entrepreneurship could be rooted in the formation of such skill variety. Analyzing 12-year longitudinal data following 1,321 Finnish adolescents into adulthood, we study whether gender differences in skill variety open up early in the vocational development of entrepreneurs vs. non-entrepreneurs, thereby contributing to the persisting gender gap in entrepreneurship in adulthood. Specifically, structural equation modeling was used to test and compare the mediating effect of early skill variety in adolescence vs. education- and work-related skill variety in early adulthood on the gender gap in entrepreneurial intentions in adulthood. We find that education- and work-related skill variety indeed operate as an obstacle for women entrepreneurship, despite women outperforming men in early skill variety in adolescence. Hence, we identify a critical turning point in early adulthood where women fall behind in their development of entrepreneurial human capital.

Entrepreneurial human capital, equity concentration and firm performance: Evidence from companies listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market

In this work, a sample of firms listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) is employed to investigate the impact of human capital and equity concentration on firm performance. It shows that entrepreneurs' education level, industry experience and technical professional background have a positive impact on firm performance. Moreover, the higher the equity concentration, the better a firm's performance. Entrepreneurs with rich industry experience and a technical professional background tend to collect and condense equity, thereby increasing equity concentration. These findings reveal the relationship between entrepreneurial human capital and ownership concentration and enrich research on firm performance.

Does National Gender Equality Matter? Gender Difference in the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Intention

Gender equality contributes to economic growth and social progress by promoting women’s social and economic participation. The national gender equality level can affect women’s education and opportunities for economic participation. In this work, we examine whether entrepreneurial human capital (entrepreneurial education and experience) affects entrepreneurial intention and whether these relationships depend on gender and a country’s gender equality level. We used Global Entrepreneurship Trend Report (GETR) data provided by the Korean Entrepreneurship Foundation. The global survey was conducted by the Korean National Statistical Office in 2016. The data were collected from 20 countries, including Korea, and contain at least 2000 individual responses from each country. We used HLM analysis with the HLM 6.0 program to examine the hypotheses. Our results show that entrepreneurship education increases entrepreneurial intention, and that the relationship is stronger among women than men. We also found that for women, the positive relationship between entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention is stronger in countries with lower gender equality. As for prior entrepreneurial experience, neither gender nor national gender equality level moderated the relationship between experience and entrepreneurial intention. This study contributes to the extension of entrepreneurship theory, especially in the area of women entrepreneurship. We confirm that entrepreneurial human capital contributes to entrepreneurial intention, and that gender and national gender equality level comprise an important social context that influences the effects of education and experience on the entrepreneurial intention of women.

Предпринимательский человеческий капитал как феномен междисциплинарных исследований

The article provides a review of economic and sociological research literature on entrepreneurial human capital. The purpose of the article was to define the conceptual framework of entrepreneurial human capital based on bibliographic and theoretical analysis of the most significant works. The bibliographic search was carried out by using the key descriptor «entrepreneurial human capital» in the Scopus international database (49 publications were selected). The analysis of the metadata of the selected scientific publications was carried out with the help of the Bibliometrix software. As a result of the content analysis of the selected articles, the following three levels of entrepreneurial human capital were identified: macrolevel, that is, state and society; mesolevel or individual institutional units and organizations; and microlevel or individual entrepreneurs. The studies of entrepreneurial human capital may have an economic, social, or spatial context, which determines the focus of each particular study on specific aspects or factors of this phenomenon. It is concluded that entrepreneurial human capital can be considered as an interdisciplinary category, explored through the convergence of economic and sociological methodology. The study may be of interest to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and to policy-makers seeking to stimulate entrepreneurship on individual, organizational, and social levels.

Same Difference? The impact of Low-, Medium-, and High-Tech Industries on Venture Performance and Survival

Despite the influence that industry has on organizational outcomes, there remains a shortage of research regarding the interaction between an entrepreneur's human capital (prior startup experience) and venture credit risk on new venture exit. Using data from the Kauffman firm survey, for ventures in high-tech industries, relative to ventures in low-tech industries, the decline in performance is stronger for founders who founded a greater number of businesses prior to the current venture or for those who have startup experience in the current industry. The differences in survival between high-tech and low-tech ventures is negligible when founders have more start up experience in the same industry. Furthermore, ventures in high-tech sectors with high credit risk have a greater performance decline relative to those in low-tech industries with high credit risk, and ventures in low-tech sectors with higher perceived competitive advantage have higher odds of failure. The findings add to our understanding of the influence of technology regimes on the limited efficacy of entrepreneurial human capital and stronger effects of credit risk on venture survival and performance.

Entrepreneurial Human Capital and Firm Dynamics

Abstract This article shows that entrepreneurial human capital is a key driver of firm dynamics using administrative panel data on the universe of firms and workers in Portugal. Firms started by more educated entrepreneurs are larger at entry and exhibit higher life cycle growth. Consistent with an effect on growth, the thickness of the right tail of the size distribution increases with entrepreneur schooling. The evidence points to several underlying mechanisms, with technology adoption playing the most important part. I develop and estimate a model of firm dynamics that can parsimoniously account for these findings and use it to draw aggregate implications. Accounting for the effect of entrepreneurial human capital on firm dynamics can substantially increase aggregate returns to schooling and the fraction of cross-country income differences explained by human and physical capital.

How the validation of prior learning can be used to assess entrepreneurial human capital investments and outcomes

PurposeThis paper aims to depart from the premise that human capital investments and human capital outcomes are often tacit – an aspect, which is often neglected in the current literature on entrepreneurial human capital. The idea of this conceptual paper is to shed light on the social process of how human capital investments and human capital outcomes can be valued and made visible through the validation of prior learning. Thus, this study conceptualises the validation of prior learning as a post hoc, the reflective process through which an aspiring entrepreneur is guided.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual and introduces a process model.FindingsFindings indicate that the process of the validation of prior learning is well-suitable to inform aspiring entrepreneurs of their investments into human capital and their human capital outcomes. The process results in a (partial) certified qualification that provides entrepreneurial legitimacy.Research limitations/implicationsThus far, the model is conceptual and should be validated via interviews and further empirical studies in the field.Practical implicationsLiterature in the field of entrepreneurial human capital suggests that human capital outcomes are more important for success than inputs. Furthermore, context-specific knowledge, skills and abilities are more important than generalised outcomes. These findings have implications for the design of validation procedures.Originality/valueHuman capital has only been recently conceptualised as consisting of human capital investments and outcomes of human capital investment. However, thus far the literature falls short in acknowledging the tacit nature of human capital investments and human capital outcomes. This paper contributes a structured process of how human capital investments and human capital outcomes are linked and assessed. In so doing, this study extends a recent model of human capital investments and outputs (Marvel et al., 2016, p. 616).

The growth of entrepreneurial human capital: origins and development of skill variety

Given that recent research on entrepreneurial behavior and success has established skill variety as a central human capital factor, researchers, educators, and policymakers have turned their interest to a deeper understanding of the formation of skill variety. Based on human capital theory and the competence growth approach in developmental psychology (highlighting long-term, age-appropriate, and cumulative skill-growth processes), we hypothesize that a broad, early variety orientation in adolescence is a developmental precursor of such entrepreneurial human capital in adulthood. This was confirmed in an analysis of prospective longitudinal data via structural equation modeling and serial mediation tests. We also find that an entrepreneurial constellation of personality traits, but not entrepreneurial parents, predicts early variety orientation, skill variety, and entrepreneurial intentions. By shedding new light on the long-term formation of entrepreneurial human capital, the results suggest that establishing and benefiting from an early variety orientation is not only an important developmental mechanism in entrepreneurial careers but gives those with an entrepreneurial personality an early head start in their vocational entrepreneurial development. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA): A quantitative evaluation of key provisions

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) significantly altered how business income is taxed in the US. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the distributional and macroeconomic effects of the TCJA, both in the short run and in the long run, using a life-cycle model with occupational choice and accumulation of entrepreneurial human capital. When salient provisions of the TCJA are implemented, the economy experiences an increase of 0.20 and 0.5 percentage points in annual GDP and capital stock growth for the first decade 2018-2027, respectively. However, economic inequality increases across and within occupations under the TCJA. The provisions affect the incentives for individuals to save, making the occupational choice extensive margin critically important in analyzing the potential impacts of the new tax reform.

Entrepreneurs' human capital resources and tourism firm sales growth: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

New private tourism firms play a key role in promoting local and national wealth creation. Building upon insights from entrepreneurial motivation and human capital theories, in this study fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of longitudinal data was employed to identify the human capital pathways of 1182 entrepreneurs in Portugal engaged in tourism reporting high firm sales growth between 2008 and 2015. Two dimensions of entrepreneur human capital at firm start-up were found to be sufficient for high sales growth: a) Necessity- and opportunity-based entrepreneurs with specific human capital industry experience relating to tourism, and b) Opportunity-based entrepreneurs with managerial experience.