Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

Understanding the ethical conduct of entrepreneurs is becoming increasingly important. Previous research has focused on the differences between entrepreneurs and managers in terms of their ethical values and behaviors and has investigated the antecedents of ethical behaviors. However, the question that whether entrepreneurs' ethical behaviors contribute to or hamper crucial aspects of new venture development, such as effective information acquisition, has remained unanswered. In this paper, we extend previous research on ethics and entrepreneurship by examining the impact of entrepreneurs' ethically suspect behaviors on information acquisition. Data from 139 entrepreneurs in China revealed the negative influence of ethically suspect behaviors on information acquisition. Further, this relationship is weakened by entrepreneurs' impression management tactics such as ingratiation and self-promotion. Implications of these findings for entrepreneurs and research at the interface of entrepreneurship and ethics are discussed.

Entrepreneurship is critical to job creation and economic growth. Unemployment in South Africa is presently at about 25 percent. The formal sector is unable to provide adequate employment opportunities for labor although the country registered positive economic growth rates over the past 17 years since the demise of apartheid. Some people manage to obtain employment in the informal sector. However, this sector also has been shedding labor recently. Although the government has responded with many initiatives to deal with employment creation, unemployment rates, especially among the youth, remain a formidable challenge. Entrepreneurship, through the creation of new ventures and expansion of business firms, can make a difference to absorb more people in the labor market. However, this depends on the level of entrepreneurial capacity and environment of the South African economy. This paper examines the problem of low employment economic growth performance over the post-apartheid period. By drawing on the Harrod-Domar model as a heuristic guide, and using regression analysis, the paper highlights the probable links between changes in economic growth and in employment. The results indicate the marginal employment growth effect is positive, the growth elasticity of employment is low over the 1994–2010 period and investment in relation to the country's desired growth in GDP is also found to be low. The paper identifies some constraints to employment creation against the entrepreneurial environmental conditions in South Africa and then examines how entrepreneurship can make a difference to employment creation.

This paper seeks to add to the literature on regional factors that drive development of new ventures. In particular, it investigates the effects of business climate, foreign population and unemployment on new venture creation. Using state level data from the time period 2003–2007, we find that while business climate and foreign population are positively related to new venture creation, unemployment is negatively related. Implications of this study for fostering entrepreneurship are discussed.

At the time of an initial public offering, shares in a firm are typically held by venture capitalists, insiders, corporate investors and angel investors. We examine the role of angel investors in the IPO process. We find that angel investors provide equity capital in industries venture capitalists are less likely to serve and that shareholders in angel backed IPO firms are more likely to sell their shares at the time of the offering. Where venture capital backed IPO firms have higher underpricing, angel backed IPO firms do not, implying that angels may be the preferred investors for early-stage firms.

This paper explores how the overall development of the financial sector and the regulatory framework impact national levels of microfinance outreach. It finds that microfinance tends to serve more clients in less developed, less competitive financial systems. However, it also finds that the microfinance sector is able to reach more clients where government policy is conducive to business development. These seemingly contradictory findings have important implications for the future of microfinance. On the one hand, the success of microfinance can be strengthened by broader business-oriented reforms. On the other hand, it may lose relevance as the formal financial sector develops and reaches more of the population.

This paper examines the determinants of return on equity for microfinance institutions (MFI), an important source of funds for entrepreneurs in developing countries. Recent research indicates that MFIs need to become financially sustainable without relying on external funding. To meet this objective, MFIs have begun to look to the capital markets as a source of funds. Our findings indicate that investors in MFIs can look at measures similar to those used by traditional financial institutions, like commercial banks, such as operating expense and portfolio yield measures to measure possible performance of a MFI. MFIs that have a larger percentage of women borrowers fare better. Additionally, we find that country specific macroeconomic conditions affect MFI return.

Currently, much attention is paid to the political aims and influence of Chinese outward investment, especially in developing Africa. This paper attempts to fill the knowledge-gap of international entrepreneurship literature by analyzing the entrepreneurial behavior of Chinese firms under the background of south-south economic cooperation. Through the case studies, we analyze the distinctive entrepreneurial behaviors and characters of different types of Chinese firms with high entrepreneurial spirits in Africa during the transitional time. After comparing the various entrepreneurial behaviors between Chinese and West investors, this paper sheds light on the potential positive roles of the entrepreneurial spirit, high risk-behavior and adaptability to foreign environment, which are necessary to successfully seek new, overseas entrepreneurial opportunities from an emerging market. Applications for firms' managers and policy makers are also offered.