Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

The overall objective of this study is to provide policy makers identifies and estimates the role and impacts of new firm formation in the Northeast region of the United States. The empirical model of this study is derived from the three-equation simultaneous model of Deller et al. (2001). In this study, Three-Stage Least Squares (3SLS) method is used to estimate the simultaneous equations model. The research findings indicate that population density and per capita income have a positive link with new firm formation. Higher population density and per capita income encourage entrepreneurs to start new firms in the region. This leads to an increase of new jobs, which is a positive contribution to economic development in the Northeast region.

This paper analyzes the motivations of eight female Afghan entrepreneurs to start up their own business and the problems they encountered during start-up and operations. Income generation was the most important push factor but pull factors including desire for independence and autonomy were also important. However, in contrast to studies in other countries, the desire for achievement was not emphasized. An unexpected finding was the emphasis on the desire to help non-family members by running a business. The main problems included financial problems during start-up and operations, lack of contacts and security during operations. Gender-specific problems included limited market, mobility constraints and negative attitudes and lack of social acceptance for female entrepreneurs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings.

Access to financial resources remains an important aspect of new venture start-up and growth strategies. While women still obtain a small amount of total private equity investment, they are increasingly involved in developing high growth ventures which may be attractive investment opportunities for venture capitalists and business angels. Contract, or term sheet, negotiation is an important stage of the investment process. Although gender-related differences in negotiation styles are well documented in other fields, they have not been examined in entrepreneurship. This research utilizes a mixed method study of gender and negotiation strategies employed during the private equity investment process.

Studies on women entrepreneurs in the informal economy no longer view them merely as a residue from some pre-modern mode of production that is disappearing. Instead, they are either read through a structuralist lens as marginalized populations engaged in low quality work conducted under poor conditions for low pay out of necessity in the absence of alternative means of livelihood, or through a neo-liberal lens as engaged in relatively higher quality endeavours more as a rational choice. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically these contrasting explanations. To do this, the results of face-to-face interviews with 323 women entrepreneurs operating in the Indian informal economy are analyzed. The finding is that although the structuralist representation is largely appropriate for women engaged in informal waged work, it is not as valid for women informal entrepreneurs working on a self-employed basis where incomes are higher, they receive more credit from informal institutions, union membership is higher, and such work is more likely to be a rational choice. The outcome is a call to recognize the diversity of women's experiences in the informal sector and that not all informal entrepreneurship by women in developing nations is a low-paid, necessity-oriented endeavour carried out as a last resort.

In this paper, we compare first generation entrepreneurs with entrepreneurs whose parents were self-employed. To test the hypotheses, we use PSED II data on nascent entrepreneurs to explore the effects of parental self-employment (PSE) on various start-up activities associated with planning and organization, and on funding structure. Overall, results show a difference in patterns of behavior between first generation entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs whose parents were self-employed, supporting the notion of intergenerational learning. Specifically, results indicate a positive relationship between PSE and early deployment of startup activities and a positive relationship between PSE and attaining informal external funding. Post hoc analyses for gender differences show that (a) the relationship between PSE and startup activities exists primarily for men and (b) gender differences exist in the effects of PSE on funding structure: for women, PSE is positively associated with the use of personal savings, whereas for men, PSE is positively associated with use of external informal funding. The results of our findings and their implications are discussed.

This study investigates the relationship between task conflict and innovation in small business. It also investigates the interactive effects of an entrepreneur's goal orientation and participative leadership style on the relationship between task conflict and innovation in small business. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis of data collected from 201 small businesses found a significant and positive relationship between task conflict and innovation. Analysis also revealed significant two-way interactive effect of an entrepreneur's participative leadership style and task conflict on innovation and significant three-way interactive effect between entrepreneur's goal orientation, participative leadership style and task conflict on innovation in small business. Results showed the relationship between task conflict and innovation is strongest in a small business of which the entrepreneur adopts a participative leadership style and the primary goal is growth and profit. Both the theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.