Pia Arenius

The Role of Knowledge in Business Start-up Activity

Drawing on the literature on knowledge and self-efficacy, we examine the effects of individuals’ possession of and exposure to knowledge on the likelihood to engage in business start-up activity. Our analyses are based on data collected for the 2002 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. More specifically, we analysed data from individuals located in Belgium and Finland in terms of their education and skills, and their contacts with the entrepreneurial community. Our findings suggest that knowledge-based factors indeed have a strong impact on the decision to engage in business start-up activity. We also found cross-country differences for these knowledge-based effects, in particular as regards the growth-orientation of business start-up activity. We discuss our findings and provide directions for future research.

Similarities and Differences Across the Factors Associated with Women's Self-employment Preference in the Nordic Countries

The trend in women’s self-employment appeared to be upward in the 1980s and 1990s, but women are still less likely than men to start new businesses. The economic growth potential in most industrialized countries is gendered, and with lack of paid employment opportunities, more hopes are targeted towards women’s entrepreneurship. We will explore women’s self-employment preferences across Scandinavian countries,1 and the influence and importance of societal and individual factors affecting self-employment preferences and their similarities and differences. Perception of self-employment skills arises across the countries as the most salient factor predicting self-employment preference. The multivariate models differ across the countries, thus challenging the existence of a universal Scandinavian model that explains the entrepreneurial activities of women. This article makes two contributions. First, we show that gender has become a key element in new firm formation activities. Second, we contribute to entrepreneurial theories by demonstrating similarities and differences across the countries and adding the importance of structural issues for explaining gender and entrepreneurial activities.

Financing of small businesses: Are Mars and Venus more alike than different?

Abstract The purpose of our study is to contribute to an improved understanding of how women business owners finance their businesses and whether usage of financing and bank shopping patterns vary by gender. Our findings reveal more similarities than differences between women and men business owners in business financing. The only difference we find is that women-owned businesses had been more likely to have obtained financing from relatives than men-owned businesses. Among the women business owners we find that home-based businesses appear to use less financial services than businesses located outside the home.

Variation in the level of activity across the stages of the entrepreneurial startup process-evidence from 35 countries

Alrich and Martinez (2001) pointed out that in “entrepreneurship many are called, but few are chosen”. Many entrepreneurs try seriously to create a lasting organization, but most of them do not pass through the three stages of the entrepreneurial startup process. There is scarce research exploring the entrepreneurial startup process, particularly studying across countries the prevalence of individuals in the different stages. This paper uses data collected across 35 countries participating in the 2005 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study and we examine whether individual-level factors and national culture are related to the ratio of nascent entrepreneurs to potential entrepreneurs, and to the ratio of baby business owners to potential entrepreneurs. Our results show that there is significant variation across countries in how many individuals are active in the different stages of the entrepreneurial startup process. Our results also indicate that gender and age are related to a high ratio of nascent entrepreneurs to potential entrepreneurs.

Gender-based differences in entrepreneurial behaviour: A comparative examination of Scotland and Finland

In most countries the rate of female entrepreneurship is around half of that for males. In an era when the vast majority of the modern world has legislative and practical gender equality in terms of economic opportunity, a common question for studies of entrepreneurship is why female rates consistently lag behind those of males. Using results obtained in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2000, this paper addresses that question by analysing rates of entrepreneurship amongst males and females in two European countries of similar size: Finland and Scotland. Differences and similarities in types and characteristics of female entrepreneurs and female-owned businesses in the two countries are also investigated, as are culture, attitudes to entrepreneurship and public support systems (including education). This comparative study suggests that female entrepreneurship often comprises unique circumstances and characteristics, such as differences (from males) in motivations for startup and for business growth, and limited variation in industry sectors entered. The study also shows that female business owners tend to maintain traditional domestic roles alongside their professional ones. While further research is necessary, it is clear that if rates of female entrepreneurship are to increase, as is identified as a priority in both Finland and Scotland (Ministry of Trade and Industry, Finland, 2000; Scottish Enterprise, 2001), greater account should be taken of the different profile female entrepreneurs can have from males, as well as specific socio-cultural and institutionalized constraints to female enterprise.

Selective or Parallel? Toward Measuring the Domains of Entrepreneurial Bricolage

Abstract Entrepreneurial bricolage has been proposed as a method of alleviating resource constraints of entrepreneurial firms. However, the outcomes of bricolage for a firm may vary greatly. One of the most pressing issues is to clarify how bricolage may enhance firm growth. Based on case studies, Baker and Nelson (2005) propose that applying bricolage in limited areas (“selective bricolage”) may enable firms to grow, whereas excessive (“parallel”) bricolage may lead to the opposite outcome. However, the process of testing the generalizability of this relationship using quantitative methods has just begun. In this chapter, we describe our efforts to develop a scale that measures bricolage manifestation in firms by using the “environmental domains” of Baker and Nelson (2005) to facilitate quantitative testing of the bricolage–growth relationship.

Entrepreneurial teams and the evolution of networks: a longitudinal study

To study the evolution of entrepreneurial networks, the authors followed a single firm for three years and collected data on changes in the discussion networks of the entrepreneurs. Whereas previous research has demonstrated the heterogeneity of networks between firms, this paper shows how entrepreneurs inside an organization differ in terms of networks and network resources. The authors combine the network data with qualitative interview data in an attempt to explain the observed individual-level differences. On the basis of the empirical material, they present a series of propositions linking individuals, entrepreneurial teams and network evolution.

Women’s entrepreneurship and social capital

The role of social capital in regional development is a multifaceted topic which is studied all over the world using various methods and across numerous disciplines. It has long been evident that social capital is important for regional development, however, it is less clear how this works in practice. Do all types of social capital have the same effects and are different kinds of regions impacted in the same way? This book is the first to offer an overview of this rapidly expanding field of research and to thoroughly analyse the complex issue of social capital and regional development.

Without the support of your family, entrepreneurial success means nothing

This paper expands our understanding of work-family interface by looking at the different dimensions of work-family interface and how women entrepreneurs in a patriarchal society make conscious choices in regards to their entrepreneurial journey to construct that interface. Contrary to the prominent view that sees work-family interfaces as problematic and fraught with tension, we find that that this tension is not present when these women operate within the boundaries of what is deemed as legitimate for a woman in relation to work-life interface, i.e., work and family are not understood as separate realms of life, instead work is embedded in the family.

Chapter 6 Strategies for Circumventing Born Global Firms’ Resource Scarcity Dilemma

The purpose of this chapter is to explore how Born Global (BG) firms seek to solve the resource scarcity problem typical for them. We discuss how these firms can increase their internationalization progress through the selection of appropriate resource strategies. Our underlying assumption is that with the selection of a suitable strategy, the BG firm can reduce the effects of the liability of foreignness and resource scarcity, and experience faster internationalization. We identified from the literature three categories of resource strategies: (1) externalization strategies, (2) entry strategies requiring minimal resources, and (3) strategies around the Internet and Internet technology. We use case material to explore how these are used by a sample of 10 BG firms.