Russia: firm entry and survival

Why are there so few new firms in Russia? This paper provides further insights into the specific Russian business landscape and how it impacts the low level of new firm entry. As this paper indicates, internationally comparative data does not provide many clues since in terms of purely formal constraints, Russia fairs comparatively well. However, a deeper analysis uncovers the informal impediments associated with the lack of rule of law, inconsistent enforcement of regulations, regional autonomy and pervasive corruption. These informal constraints form impediments not only for new firm creation but also for firm survival and firm exit. Since not all industries are affected in the same way, this paper includes a comparison between a new and traditional industrial sector: software development and the textile industry

International entrepreneurship education: postgraduate business students experiences of entrepreneurship education

Objectives The study aims to enhance understanding of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education in meeting the expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in UK business & management education. Specifically, it explores within sample groups of learners: RQ1. What is the typical profile of the international students’ prior education and work experience? RQ2. What do students expect from studying an entrepreneurship PG course in the UK? RQ3. What are their experiences of, and learning outcomes from, the entrepreneurship course? RQ4. What benefits regarding their skills and knowledge do they perceive result from participation? Prior Work International Postgraduate education has grown substantially in the last decade (UUK, 2010). There has been significant growth in international postgraduate student participation in UK business related subjects, involving both MBA and other Masters’ programmes such as MSc in Management and a range of specialist awards, which increasingly offer Entrepreneurship as a core or option. Prior research focuses on transnational comparisons between France, Germany and Poland (Packham et al, 2010) USA, Spain and China (Pruett et al, 2009) Africa and Europe (Davey et al, 2011) China (Millman et al, 2010) and Poland (Jones, et al, 2011) with relatively little research specifically addressing entrepreneurship for international students on postgraduate courses in the UK (Hall and Sung, 2009, Liu, 2010). Approach This article originates in the authors’ experiences in running postgraduate entrepreneurship modules for international students in UK Business Schools. They found that students often experienced concerns about a ‘mismatch’ between their expectations of UK business and management education and their actual experiences, with experiences of cultural tensions between prior learning experiences and their acculturation to the requirements and norms of UK business education. The study is a microcosm of a wider issue as these concerns are shared more generally by international Postgraduate students. Results The results confirmed that career development was a major motivator for international study in the UK. Interest in entrepreneurship is increasing but there are tensions between the expectations of the postgraduate experience and the experienced reality. Entrepreneurship was in some cases seen as a distinctive ‘peak experience’, but cultural factors, learning effectiveness and linguistic capability need to be addressed in designing learning programmes. Implications The study contributes new evidence and ideas to the debate on entrepreneurship education in meeting the career expectations and motivations of international postgraduate students participating in entrepreneurship education, especially in the light of new curricular guidance (QAA, 2012) and UK government regulation. Value It offers suggestions for educators on the effective design and delivery of entrepreneurship for international students in the rapidly changing and competitive postgraduate market

Students’ entrepreneurial behavior: international and gender differences

Due to a high level of uncertainty, entrepreneurship is generally considered a risky endeavor. This paper explores the factors impacting entrepreneurial behavior in order to identify new educational opportunities for its development. The paper explores perceived feasibility and desirability for students in 10 countries. The entrepreneurship role is gender tested against desirability and feasibility. The requirements for developing this skill set are also studied. A survey instrument was developed, and data was collected from 4281 students. The results indicate that gender impacts entrepreneurship intention and the way it impacts is influenced by which country the students are from

Limited partners' perceptions of the Central Eastern European venture capital and private equity market

Growth expectations and institutional settings in Central Eastern Europe are assumed to be favorable for the establishment of a vibrant Venture Capital and Private Equity market. Despite this, there is a lack of risk capital. We examine the obstacles to institutional investments in the region through a questionnaire addressed to (potential) Limited Partners world-wide. The respondents provide information about their perceptions of the region. The protection of property rights is the dominant concern, followed by social criteria, such as the belief in the management quality of local people, and the lacking size and liquidity of the Central Eastern European capital markets. However, Limited Partners regard the growth expectations as attractive, and those with exposure in Central Eastern Europe are satisfied with the historical risk and return ratio, they have a good knowledge of the region, are attracted by other emerging regions, and they appreciate the region's entrepreneurial opportunities and the local General Partners. Overall, the region is ranked very favorable compared to other emerging regions, and especially with respect to its economic and entrepreneurial activity.Venture Capital; Private Equity; International Asset Allocation; Institutional Investors;

A cross-cultural approach to understanding entrepreneurial intention

The current research aims to shed light on the role of culture in the formation of career intentions. It draws on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen), which has been widely employed to predict intentions, including entrepreneurial career intentions, but past research has almost exclusively been conducted in "Western" countries. The current research specifically explores the extent to which both the strength of relationships of TPB predictors with entrepreneurial career intentions and the TPB predictors themselves are invariant across cultures. The study compares six very different countries (Germany, India, Iran, Poland, Spain, and the Netherlands), drawing on an overall sample of 1,074 students and their assessments of entrepreneurial career intentions. Results support culture universal effects of attitudes and perceived behavioral control (self-efficacy) on entrepreneurial career intentions but cultural variation in the effects of subjective norm

Diaspora the comparative advantage for Armenia

Tatoul Manaserya

Linking young individuals' capital to investment intentions: Comparing two cultural backgrounds

By integrating the Entrepreneurial Intentionality Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, we explored the effects of human, social and financial capital on young individuals' investment intentions in two groups (97 English and 97 Greeks). Results indicated that human capital is directly and indirectly related to investment intentions via, first, subjective norms and, consequently, personal attitudes and perceived behavioural control, while social capital is only indirectly related to investment intentions via perceived behavioural control. In the individualistic group (English), human capital related directly and positively with investment intentions while social capital related indirectly to investment intentions via its positive relationship to subjective norms. With regard to participants from a collectivistic background (Greeks), human capital related indirectly to investment intentions via, first, subjective norms and, consequently, personal attitudes and perceived behavioural control, while social capital related directly and indirectly to investment intentions via perceived behavioural control. Financial capital was only negatively related to investment intentions in the total and Greek sample

Business perceptions of regulative institutions in Central and Eastern Europe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate, theoretically and empirically, how entrepreneurial firms' perceptions of formal institutions differ across Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses data from the World Bank Group's World Business Environment Survey (WBES) compare entrepreneurial firms' perceptions of changes in different components of regulative institutions in Latin and orthodox CEE economies. The data used in this paper capture a decade's progress in the development of regulative institutions in these economies. Findings – It was found that the state's regulatory, participatory, and supportive roles are more favorable to businesses in the Latin countries than in the orthodox countries. The findings provide support for the notion that informal institutions influence the degree of generalizeability and replicability of Western political and economic institutions' success in driving firms' entrepreneurial behavior in emerging economies. Research limitations/implications – The first limitation is that the data used were collected about a decade ago. Another limitation relates to a lack of coverage of many former Soviet republics and some other CEE countries in the WBES. Practical implications – The findings point to the need of strategic planning and various degrees of adaptation of business strategies across the CEE economies. Second, businesses may differ in terms of the relative importance of regulatory, participatory, and supportive roles of the government in their operations. Finally, some CEE economies can be influenced more than others by international pressures. Originality/value – This paper's greatest value stems from the fact that it uses internationally comparable firm-level data to empirically examine entrepreneurial firms' perceptions of regulative institutions in CEE economies

Perspectives and Progress in Contemporary Cross-Cultural Psychology

Selected Papers from the XVIIth International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2004, Xi’an, Sha’anxi Province, Chinahttps://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/iaccp_proceedings/1005/thumbnail.jp