Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

By comparing respondents in Egypt and the United States this paper examines whether the rise of virtual social networks to support entrepreneurship may be more important in driving entrepreneurial intent in countries undergoing disruption. Further, this research developed a new factor of “social media self-efficacy” as a predictor of perceived behavioral control in entrepreneurial intent. Results were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS), employing the double bootstrap comparison method for improved accuracy. Social media self-efficacy provided significant, unique variance for both samples in predicting perceived behavioral control above and beyond the contribution of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and access to entrepreneurial resources. Social media self-efficacy was significantly more influential for Egyptians than for Americans in predicting perceived behavioral control; entrepreneurial self-efficacy and access to resources were significantly more influential for Americans. This research introduces a framework for conceptualizing a social media role in promoting entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on its likely importance for contexts suffering from institutional voids or severe institutional instability.

In September 2010, Brazil’s Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, used the term “currency war” with reference to monetary policies implemented by different countries to generate an artificial devaluation of their currency and achieve a cheaper, more competitive domestic economy that may be attractive to foreign investors. Similar cases have been documented since the 1930’s Great Depression, when several countries abandoned the gold standard as backing for their currencies. More recently, a large-scale asset purchase by Japan’s Central Bank in 2013 was singled out as a strategy aimed at generating devaluation of the yen. This research uses statistics of new business formation density reported by Doing Business for 30 emerging countries in the period from 2004 through 2011 to evaluate the impact of devaluation measured by the behavior of the real effective exchange rate (REER) on the rate of new business formation (NBF). It is determined how variables associated with competitiveness affect the relationship between devaluation and business formation. Results show that devaluation has a positive effect on NBF in the short term, which gets diluted in the long term. Countries with greater competitiveness have less dependence on devaluation to increase the number of businesses.

Entrepreneurs’ networks are important for resource acquisition during early venturing. Interestingly, resource needs rapidly change during early venture development, which may necessitate a change in entrepreneurs’ networks. This study examines how the size of an early-stage entrepreneur’s network affects the subsequent structural (e.g., size) and content (e.g., knowledge diversity) character of their network. Additionally, how the strength of an early-stage entrepreneur’s network ties affects the subsequent structural (e.g., size and tie strength) and content (e.g., knowledge diversity) character of their network is explored. Data from the PSED-I were used to analyze the relationships. Results suggest the relationship between network size at time one and network size at time two is positive. Results further suggest a negative relationship between the number of weak ties at time one and the number of strong ties at time two. In addition, a positive relationship was found between network size at time one and network knowledge diversity at time two. Overall, this study contributes by providing a replication of results from recent work examining dynamics of entrepreneurs’ networks and it extends research on the topic by testing proposals utilizing panel data and through integrating novel theoretical perspectives.

The present study examines the extent of entrepreneurship education in Australian, New Zealand and U.S. agricultural colleges and programs. The findings suggest that entrepreneurship is important in agriculture, which is reflected in a majority of programs having some coverage in their curriculum of entrepreneurship. In addition, the courses taught are focused on developing entrepreneurial capabilities such as opportunity recognition and assessment, risk management and networking to create value.

The aim of this paper is to examine the potential differences in the entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) of female entrepreneurs who own businesses in gender congruent and incongruent industries. Through the lens of social role theory the four antecedents of efficacy are examined. The results of ten in-depth, qualitative interviews show there are overarching similarities in all factors between the groups but nuanced differences in the areas of mastery experiences, social persuasion and vicarious learning. Differences were also found in the areas of social comparisons and perceived gender stereotypes. The paper discusses how ESE manifests for female entrepreneurs based on the gender congruency of the industry in which her business operates. Last, areas for future research are discussed.

The personality of entrepreneurs can have a large influence on entrepreneurial startups. The general locus of control, which is an element of the personality of entrepreneurs, is considered to be critical for the creation of entrepreneurial startups. Despite the generally acknowledged importance of one’s locus of control for entrepreneurial intentions and new firm startups, a research gap exists because less emphasis has been given to external locus of control, in particular chance control. Chance non-control can be defined as a person’s disbelief in chance- or luck-based outcomes. In this study, a country-moderated hypothesis about the relationship between a person’s chance non-control and his or her entrepreneurship (activities or intentions) was developed and empirically tested by using data collected through a structured questionnaire from 645 students in three countries (China, Finland and Slovenia). Regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis. Based on the findings, which are partially in support of the moderated hypothesis, recommendations for research and practice are proposed. The key contribution of the study is the explanation of the role of chance non-control in entrepreneurship and the notion the relationship between chance non-control and entrepreneurship tends to be moderated depending on uncertainty avoidance.

This study focuses on the issue of entrepreneurship education and the role of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the context of developing countries. More specifically it aims to understand how entrepreneurship education is being implemented in Mozambique and to identify the main barriers to the creation of companies promoted by/incubated in HEI with entrepreneurship education in their curricula. The paper includes theoretical discussion and the presentation of a case study. It begins with a literature review about the relationship between entrepreneurship and development followed by a discussion about entrepreneurship education in the context of developing countries and entrepreneurship education provided by HEI. The empirical study is focused in Mozambique. After a contextualization of entrepreneurship education in Mozambique, Mozambican HEI with entrepreneurship education are identified and their situation and difficulties concerning the implementation of entrepreneurship education are discussed. Data collection includes documental sources and interviews with HEI representatives of a sample of ten establishments of the universe of five public and private HEI with entrepreneurship education in Mozambique. Results indicate that lack of resources, trained/qualified teachers and cooperation networks with the business community and other relevant actors are the main barriers.