Jerzy Cieślik

Comparative Analysis of Recent Trends in Private Sector Development in CEE Transition Economies

Abstract We investigate developments in private sector activity as proxied by business ownership (BO) rates in four Central and East European (CEE) transition economies (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic) and compare them with similar developments in other OECD countries in the period 1989–2008. Our analysis reveals that BO rates in the four CEE countries have been converging rapidly towards the levels of other OECD countries, and these CEE countries were able to rebuild their private sectors in a relatively short period of transition. We also find sizable differences among the four CEE countries under study in the level and dynamics of change of BO since 1989.

Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

Research Summary The economic center of gravity is shifting from mature markets to emerging regions This shift provides a good opportunity to broaden and deepen our theoretical base of concepts and frameworks because emerging and mature regions differ significantly in their institutional regimes Hence entrepreneurial resource mobilization in emerging regions could differ significantly because of theoretical differences in actors? action logics and resource governance The eight papers in this special issue provide new empirical evidence on antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurial resource mobilization efforts in emerging regions Here, we briefly summarize the state of the field, introduce the articles by situating them in a novel theoretical framework on entrepreneurial resource mobilization, and finally using our framework, we suggest opportunities for future research on entrepreneurship in emerging regions Managerial Summary Entrepreneurship research has advanced mainly using empirical data from the developed economies of North America and Western Europe Because emerging economies differ markedly in their institutional development from developed economies, this prior research is less likely to be useful to understand entrepreneurship in emerging regions - which are increasingly crucial components of the global economy This special issue contains eight articles addressing different aspects of the entrepreneurial resource mobilization process using diverse research methods on empirical data drawn from a broad range of emerging economies This introduction describes the state of the field prior to the special issue, introduces the special issue articles and identifies topics that still need further investigation We distill the current state of knowledge and offer a roadmap for future scholarship

Restrictive Clauses in East-West Licensing Trade: The Case of Poland

The aim of this paper is to determine how contract conditions in licensing agreements between Poland and the industrialized market-economy countries influence the long-term effects of imports of modern technology. Analysis is confined to two essential aspects of this problem. The first concerns the effects of the diffusion of modern technical solutions throughout the whole economy. Unlike technology purchases by individual western enterprises, technology imports in a planned economy are considered as a source of modernization of entire branches or industries, and not only of certain enterprises. The second issue dealt with the export-promotion effect. When, after 1970, Poland launched an extensive technology importing programme, it was assumed that this would prove an essential stimulus which would in the long run change Polands position in the international division of labour; in the short term, export growth would constitute the main source of foreign exchange needed to repay credits drawn for technology imports.

Explaining university students’ career path intentions from their current entrepreneurial exposure

The purpose of this paper is to predict future career paths of university students, distinguishing between paid employment, running one’s own independent business and running a family business. The main predictor is the students’ current mode of entrepreneurial exposure, both in terms of the students running their own business, and in terms of their parents running their own business.,The study is based on a comprehensive survey held in May 2013 among 1,490 business and law students of Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. To predict future career expectations in ten years’ time, multinomial logit regressions were employed.,The authors find that, among students with a family business background, those students who are actively involved in their parents’ business are significantly more likely to pursue joining the family firm, rather than starting their own business.,In order to stimulate business succession, universities with a large proportion of students with family business background may consider launching dedicated programs promoting the interest of students in the businesses run by their parents.,The authors investigate to what extent active participation of university students in their parents’ business is associated with a higher probability to pursue a career in family business. The research has important implications in light of the increasing difficulty in Europe to find successors for family businesses.

The Response of MNCs to Radical Systemic Change in a Transition Environment

After the collapse of the communist system, multinational corporations (MNCs) embarked on direct investments in Poland and launched export operations through their subsidiaries at astonishing speed, in spite of the initially weak institutional environment. These developments challenge the explanatory power of institutional theories explaining the patterns of MNC expansion into Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. We propose an alternative theoretical framework based on a stream of organizational research that focuses specifically on strategic responses to radical changes in external operating environments. The analysis is based on a dataset covering 4,000 subsidiaries operating in the Polish manufacturing sector during the transition period 1989–2003.

Country-level determinants and consequences of overconfidence in the ambitious entrepreneurship segment

Countries vary widely and systematically in the extent to which the ambitions of their entrepreneurs differ from their realisations. We label this discrepancy entrepreneurial overconfidence (EOC). Although a certain level of EOC may be beneficial for an economy, we provide empirical support for the argument that if entrepreneurial ambitions substantially and systematically exceed realisations, this may be at the cost of economic and societal prosperity. Therefore, we need to know more about country levels of EOC and their determinants, particularly with respect to the growth-oriented segment of entrepreneurship. Combining data on entrepreneurial ambitions from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and data on realisations from Eurostat, we construct a measure of EOC at the country level and correlate its variation across 23 European Union (EU) countries over the period 2004–2015 with a set of economic and cultural factors. Among other findings, our results show that ambitions exceed realisations in almost all countries, but that this discrepancy is significantly greater for new member countries entering the EU since 2004. Policy implications of our results are discussed, particularly for promoting ambitious entrepreneurship in countries at the intermediate development stage.

Entrepreneurship and Employment

The significant contribution of smaller firms to employment and particularly, the creation of new jobs was, next to their crucial role in innovation, a key argument for rejecting the notion that the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plays a peripheral role in the economy, thus calling for a new paradigm on the entrepreneurship renaissance that took place at the turn of the 21st century. The promotion of entrepreneurial activity for the purpose of countering unemployment remains at the centre of attention for policymakers. The recipe seems simple. Let’s encourage people, including the unemployed, to set up their own business: they will employ themselves and, in the future, might also give work to other job-seekers. In reality, however, the situation is much more complex. In order to use the entrepreneurial lever to fight unemployment effectively, one needs to have a thorough understanding of the trends prevailing in the business sector in order to identify categories of business establishments and the forms of entrepreneurial activity that generate new jobs. Equally important is the quality of jobs in the small business versus the corporate sector.

Dimensions of Entrepreneurship

The principal characteristic of entrepreneurship as a socioeconomic phenomenon is its immanent diversity, which, arguably, poses a challenge for researchers. In turn, it is crucial that policymakers recognize the internal diversity of business establishments and their leaders, as it allows them to influence more effectively—with the use of various instruments—the pace and the directions of development within the enterprise sector. A total of 24 facets of entrepreneurship have been conventionally divided into three main groups. The first one is the segment of small business. The second group features entrepreneurship facets reflecting the renaissance of entrepreneurship at the turn of the 21st century. The third group encompasses diverse manifestations of entrepreneurial attitudes outside the business sector.

Kozminski University: Developing Minds for Ambitious Entrepreneurship and Training Teachers at Other Universities

Kozminski University (KU) is a Polish private business and law school established in 1993. It has 5300 students and a leading position in management education in Poland as well as Central and Eastern Europe. KU offers curricular EE for Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees. Most offers are for BA students in Management with a Major in Entrepreneurship. While KU had been offering entrepreneurship courses since its early years, since 2004 the University has embarked on promoting ambitious entrepreneurship among students. This proved to be a fruitful direction but necessitated reshaping minds and attitudes of students and teachers, shifting their focus away from small-scale establishments to business ventures with growth ambitions. Such a shift turned out to be challenging: the pool of students with the right mindset for ambitious entrepreneurship was so far found to be limited at KU itself. However, KU established links with students from other universities in the region and country and from non-business academic disciplines in extra-curricular activities. In these activities it was particularly fruitful for the quality of business projects to mix students from various disciplines like business management, engineering, agriculture and arts. KU also initiated a programme for training entrepreneurship lecturers from other higher education institutions who in turn introduced entrepreneurship courses in 40 non-business universities in Poland. KU’s experiences in EE and lessons learned may be particularly relevant for “catching up” higher education institutions with limited prior experience in teaching entrepreneurship. It may be important for the transferability of such experiences that a substantial part of teaching materials is already available in written form.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Interest in the relationship between entrepreneurship and innovation can be attributed to the important role that the latter plays for both enterprises and national economies. For the emerging economies application of innovations to spur economic development should be viewed as the most promising approach in an attempt to narrow the distance that remains between them and global economic leaders. Knowledge of innovation processes taking place in enterprises is paramount for the implementation of a macroeconomic development policy. Does the “advantage of backwardness” apply to the global context at the turn of the 21st century? How can emerging economies make the best use of the entrepreneurial and innovative potential of their societies? Which innovative strategies work best for companies from emerging economies striving to catch up with global leaders? These issues and dilemmas shall be addressed in Chapter 6.