Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct their business affairs wholly by the rulebook. Evaluating this rapidly growing body of literature, it reviews the findings regarding the preponderance of entrepreneurs to engage in the informal economy, the nature of such informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and the motives underpinning participation in such endeavor, along with the competing theories that have sought to explain engagement in this type of entrepreneurship. The tentative finding is that there are marked socio-spatial variations in the prevalence and nature of informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and their rationales. The implication is not only that different theorizations of informal entrepreneurship apply more in some populations than others, but also that some populations usually seen as lacking in entrepreneurial spirit are perhaps more enterprising and entrepreneurial than currently recognized. Consequently, legitimizing this hidden enterprise culture could be an important means of promoting enterprise and economic development in such populations. The paper concludes by highlighting future avenues for research on this subject.

As this paper examines the relationship between Islamic values and entrepreneurial activity, it seeks to establish whether these values can be more effectively tapped into to raise the profile of Islamic form of entrepreneurship. A written, self-administered questionnaire among a random sample of Saudi entrepreneurs in the city of Riyadh was employed to generate descriptive data to assess the views and attitudes of Saudi entrepreneurs toward both conventional and Islamic forms of entrepreneurship. We find that Saudi entrepreneurs perceive themselves to be committed Muslims who consider entrepreneurship a religious and economic duty intended to generate halal (lawful) income to meet their financial obligations and to contribute to the falah (well-being) of the Muslim ummah (nation) in this life and hereafter. The findings also negate the prevalent conventional assumption that Islam is intrinsically anti-modernization and anti-development, and that the religiously-based Saudi culture would hinder the emergence and the development of a vibrant entrepreneurship culture in Saudi Arabia.

Corporate entrepreneurship has been of interest to academics, business leaders and government officials over the past four decades, particularly in terms of enhancing organizational performance. Although the understanding of corporate entrepreneurship continues to develop, the research usually focuses on private sector business activity. The research to date has not provided a consensus on the nature of public sector corporate entrepreneurship. Even though in recent years the topic has appeared in the public administration literature with increasing frequency, public sector corporate entrepreneurship remains poorly defined and its interpretation fragmented. In this study, public sector corporate entrepreneurship is investigated by developing and testing an integrative model using data obtained from 134 public sector state and semi-state enterprises in Ireland. The results indicate public sector organizations can manage change through entrepreneurship when they adapt to a munificent environment and when the decision-making style and control system is aligned. Public sector organizations focusing on corporate entrepreneurship (renewal) are at least marginally positively associated with organizational performance (growth and development) a primary policy goal particularly in the current economic climate. The article concludes by discussing the implications for theory, practice and future research areas.

This study attempts to develop a better understanding in an emerging economy of the exit and reentry processes of entrepreneurs. Twelve case studies were conducted in Turkey with entrepreneurs who, following entrepreneurial exit, re-entered with new ventures. Human and social capital perspectives are used to gain insights into the reentry process. The study indicates that reasons for and modes of exit influence the entrepreneur's decisions surrounding reentry. Results further reveal that experiential and educational dimensions of human capital are instrumental in the reentry process. The study finds that structural and relational dimensions of social capital are cardinal factors that influence the reentry process.

The level of self-employment among immigrants is often higher than among natives. The purpose of this paper was to test empirically whether selective migration with respect to entrepreneurial characteristics may explain this difference. The relevant hypotheses were tested comparing representative samples of Russian immigrants in Norway and their stay-at-home counterparts. Data from the Russian population came from the 2008 GEM study, while data on Russian immigrants in Norway were collected through a specially designed postal survey. The analysis revealed some demographic dissimilarity between the two groups, as well as a presence of selective migration with respect to entrepreneurial characteristics. This study demonstrates that immigrants (as compared to non-migrants) are more likely to report intentions to start a business. Moreover, they possess relatively large amount of specific human capital, social capital and self-confidence relevant for entrepreneurship. The paper concludes with proposed practical implications and suggestions for further research.

The objective of this paper is to study the direct and mediating effects on the motivation to become self-employed of a set of two individual factors (entrepreneurial self-efficacy and risk-taking) and five environmental factors (family self-employment background, social networks, social norms, legal system support and governmental support). Based on 535 cases from the United States, results show that legal system support, social networks, social norms, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and risk-taking had a strong impact on motivation for self-employment. Family self-employment history only had a direct effect and social networks and social norms only had an indirect effect on motivation for self-employment. Our study contributes to the literature by studying motivation for self-employment, at the "middle level" of complexity by providing a summary evaluation of a model involving 17 relationships among eight constructs. In so doing, we have also given substantial attention to context. Our results suggest the need to take into account individual and environmental factors systemically and contextually. Limitations and future research are discussed.

Learning what initially drives university students to be open to the thought of starting their own businesses has been of great interest to entrepreneurship researchers/educators. Past literature looks at a variety of important motivators that impact student intentions toward entrepreneurship but has tended to view entrepreneurial intentions as a homogeneous construct. This study uses Ajzen's theory of planned behavior to examine university students' intentions to start various types of ventures (small lifestyle, small high income and high growth). Results indicate that intentions to start small high income and high growth ventures share many commonalities and are significantly driven by behavioral beliefs and perceived behavioral control. Intentions to start small lifestyle ventures, on the other hand, are found to be independent from intentions to start either small, high income or high growth ventures and are not as well explained by the theory of planned behavior. Implications and ideas for future research and entrepreneurship education are discussed.