Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship

In most developing countries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an essential segment of the economic composition and crucial players for fostering innovation, growth and prosperity. Despite wide agreement among researchers in entrepreneurship and SME management that entrepreneurial and general self-efficacy can positively impact business formation and growth, one aspect of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, i.e., financial self-efficacy, has not been linked to SME performance in terms of SME profitability and growth, or satisfaction of the entrepreneur with their company. This study fills this research gap by uncovering new knowledge about the relationship between the financial self-efficacy of the entrepreneur and elements of SME performance. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire in one European country. Hypotheses were conceptually developed and checked using regression analysis. The results of this research reveal new knowledge about the relationship between financial self-efficacy and performance. The entrepreneur’s financial self-efficacy can matter for the profitability of SMEs, as well as for the growth and satisfaction of micro-SMEs and certain differently defined groups of entrepreneurs or companies.

Entrepreneurship is an integral part of change and development, contributing positively to employment, poverty reduction and income growth. It flourishes in an institutional context of freedom rather than suppression. This paper examines the relationship between economic freedom, income and entrepreneurship in South Africa, using (1994–2019) time-series data. Economic freedom was measured by the Economic Freedom Index (FREE) as a proxy. Income and early-stage entrepreneurship were proxied by gross domestic product per capita (GDPC) and total entrepreneurial activity (TEA), respectively. Johansen cointegration tests and a vector error correction model (VECM) were used to estimate the short- and long-run associations between the variables. The results indicate a bi-directional short- and long-run cointegrating relationship between freedom and entrepreneurship; freedom is also found to be a significant predictor of GDPC in South Africa. Thus, improvements in real per capita GDP and economic freedom tend to enhance early-stage entrepreneurship, providing greater scope for business formations. Hence, a mindset change from radical economic transformation to pro-economic freedom might help in stimulating entrepreneurship.

It often has been argued that entrepreneurs in developing countries can be classified as either “survival” or “growth-oriented.” However, there is little systematic knowledge about the classification of entrepreneurs and their predictors in developing countries. Recently, scholars have distinguished high potential entrepreneurs from low potential entrepreneurs, given that high potential entrepreneurs recognize and effectively exploit opportunities. In Uganda, high potential entrepreneurs have access to more resources than low potential entrepreneurs. However, the literature does not clarify whether access to resources influences entrepreneurship classifications, especially in a developing country context. We surveyed more than 700 entrepreneurs in Uganda to establish how resources influence entrepreneurship classification. In this paper, we attempt to investigate how psychology and other human and social resources influence forms of entrepreneurship.

Improved access to credit influences socio-economic growth. Accordingly, financial support schemes have been used widely as a development tool to help underserved individuals grow and elevate themselves out of poverty. Uplifting women, who are subject to unfair treatment because of gender biases, have been a major target of these programs. Therefore, the present study examines one such government microcredit scheme, the Mudra Yojana, which supports individuals financially to start an enterprise or expand the existing one by providing collateral-free loans. Further, it encourages female participants by charging lower interest rates. The present study, based on 417 female beneficiaries from the tribal districts of West Bengal, India, investigates how financial support has benefitted women in their socio-economic growth. It evaluates the scheme’s effect based on women’s employability and empowerment level. To analyze the data, the study employs ordered logistic regression, Wilcoxon Sign test, effect size, etc. The results suggest micro-credit through Mudra Yojana encourages female entrepreneurship, raises earnings and employability, and thereby empowers them financially, socially, psychologically and in the political arena. The findings of these studies reinforce the fact women could be “active agents of change” and play an important role in both the family and society.

The benefits of female leaders in economic organizations increasingly are being reported. A large body of empirical studies focuses on the differences between female and male leaders regarding their personality characteristics, social skills and leadership styles. The existing literature pays insufficient attention to the institutional, cultural and organizational contexts that predetermine the mechanisms of shaping the leadership-performance linkage. By analyzing a national sample of Chinese private companies, we offer evidence for female CEOs’ heightened innovativeness compared to male CEOs. We suggest that organizational bias in selecting leadership and discrimination practices compel female CEOs to develop and utilize innovative capacities. A firm’s institutional environment moderates the positive role of female CEOs on firm innovativeness. The positive effects of female CEOs in promoting firm innovativeness are more potent in regions with lower GDP levels and less government support, where discriminations against women are more pervasive and deep-seated.

This study empirically investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and sustainability performance. It also explores the direct effects of financial capital, human capital, social capital, government support and business environment on sustainability performance of micro-enterprises operating in the informal sector. The study is conducted within the context of Senegal and through the lens of resource-based view theory. Employing a cross-sectional design, data is collected from randomly selected micro and small entrepreneurs operating in the informal sector. The outcomes include a positive effect of opportunity recognition competency, commitment competency and government support on the sustainability performance of micro-enterprises. An Importance Performance Matrix analysis indicates that these factors are the most important factors determining sustainability performance of micro-enterprises within the context of the informal sector. The findings extend the scope of RBV while simultaneously enhancing the knowledge and understanding pertaining to the interplay of entrepreneurial competencies and sustainability performance, particularly for small business operators in the informal sector. Implications are drawn to theory development, practice and public policy.

This study explores the relationships that human, economic and social capital may have with the creation of employment in small businesses that belong to African immigrants. Based on a cross-country approach, the study utilized self-administered questionnaires to collect data in a cross-sectional manner from 829 respondents in some states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Results obtained from the analysis of the data revealed that certain variables in the triumvirate of human, economic and social capitals displayed statistically significant relationships with employment creation. Specifically, among the studied variables, only management skills, educational achievement, business support services and language proficiency correlated positively with employment creation. Consequently, Governments, African-immigrant entrepreneurs and other interested stakeholders may need to invest in the improvement of these specific components of human, economic and social capital bases of entrepreneurs for the touted benefit of employment creation to materialize.