Endogenous spillovers, increased competition and re-organization waves

We consider an entrepreneur that is the sole producer of a cost reducing skill, but the entrepreneur that hires a team to use the skill cannot prevent collusive trade for the innovation related knowledge between employees and competitors. We show that there are two types of diffusion avoiding strategies for the entrepreneur to preempt collusive communication i) setting up a large productive capacity (the traditional firm) and ii) keeping a small team (the lean firm). The traditional firm is characterized by its many "marginal" employees that work short days, receive flat wages and are incompletely informed about the innovation. The lean firm is small in number of employees, engages in complete information sharing among members, that are paid with stock option schemes. We find that the lean firm is superior to the traditional firm when technological entry costs are low and when the sector is immature.Information sharing, endogenous spillovers, physical assets, corporate transformation, stock-options, collussion, trade secrets

Entrepreneurial Experiences of Becoming an Employer: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The aim of this study is to better understand how entrepreneurs become employers. Taking a phenomenological position, my research uses a co-creative methodology to explore transitions from entrepreneur to entrepreneur-employer. Job creation is commonly cited as a benefit of entrepreneurship (Birch, 1979; Acs, 2006), yet little is known about the transition to entrepreneur-employer. Recent estimates highlight that many UK enterprises are classified as non-employing businesses, comprising the founder only (ONS, 2020). This suggests that while a high proportion of individuals enter self-employment, growth presents a significant challenge for many (Coad et al., 2017). Extant research investigating the entrepreneur to entrepreneur-employer transition is predominantly functionalist, reinforcing commonly held beliefs that entrepreneurship is a desirable economic activity (Dvouletý, 2018). In response, I sought to apply a qualitative approach. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a guiding framework, I explore the lived experiences of six female and four male entrepreneur-employers in South Wales. My contribution to the entrepreneurship field is twofold. Firstly, my findings reflect an uglier reality to job-creation than is readily visible in the mainstream entrepreneurship literature. Perceiving it as a double-edged sword, participants juxtaposed common entrepreneurial narratives against their everyday realties. Becoming an employer introduced a level of relationality, exposing participants to systems demanding conformity rather than entrepreneurial diversity. Second, methodologically I demonstrate how the use of a co-creative method is a valuable tool for accessing complex and nuanced entrepreneurial experiences. Participants universally expressed frustration at being suspended in what I interpret as a liminal state. Drawing on relevant literature, I theorise that this is particularly felt within neoliberal post-industrial contexts. I conclude that, for my participants, negotiating the gap between mainstream entrepreneurial narratives, and their lived entrepreneurial experiences, was a significant factor in moving beyond the critical entrepreneur to entrepreneur-employer transition

Mann der Tat, Enterprise Culture und Ethno-preneurs: Eine Diskussion kritischer, affirmativer und pragmatischer Entrepreneurship- Ansätze am Beispiel Spaniens

This contribution suggests a classification of different anthropological contributions to entrepreneurship research. Critical approaches to entrepreneurship focus on the ideological bias of the term. As the work of Mary Douglas, they critique the methodological individualism and the utilitarian self-concept underlying the entrepreneur. Affirmative approaches, in the tradition of Joseph Schumpeter or Frederik Barth, are concerned with the definition, understanding and transformative outcomes of entrepreneurship. Pragmatic approaches use tactically the social eminence of the term by expanding it to a wide range of apparently distant topics, such as the ‘ethno-preneur’ coined by John and Jean Comaroff. To illustrate the analytical scope of each of these approaches, I discuss some of my empirical material from Spain, such as the discourse on entrepreneurship in the 2015 parliamentary elections, the case of a media entrepreneur in rural Andalusia and the politics of heritage entrepreneurship and the Mediterranean diet in Catalonia

On the governance of start-ups

This paper examines an entrepreneur-investor relationship in a stylized model where (i) investment needs are unknown ex ante and arise sequentially (ii) a major decision must be reached at a maturity strage, (iii) this decision depends on entrepreneur's private information, observable by the investor at some cost. The two partners agree on a corporate governance system which includes a split of futre cash-flows and an allocation of control on the above decision contingently on investment. It turns out that control is assigned to the entrepreneur for low investment levels and then switches to the investor when investment exceeds a threshold. Classification-JEL: G24; G32; L22CONTINGENT CONTROL; CORPORATE GOVERNANCE; VENTURE CAPITAL; BIOTECHNOLOGY

ENTREPRENEUR–INVESTOR INFORMATION DESIGN

I consider an environment in which an entrepreneur generates information about the quality of his project prior to contracting with an investor. The investor faces a moral-hazard problem since the entrepreneur may divert the funding for private consumption. I find that the efficient amount of information is generated if and only if the bargaining power of the entrepreneur is high enough. I interpret this result in terms of investors' tightness, competitiveness, and generosity measures. I also show that the investor prefers not to have all the bargaining power when the project costs are high enough

Exploring the Puzzle of Functional Homophily in New Venture Founding Teams

Despite the long-term benefits of establishing a founding team with diverse functional knowledge, many entrepreneurs assemble a team of cofounders who are homogenous with respect to functional background. I examine this phenomenon in two empirical settings. First, in a university incubator program that brings together faculty, students, and outside community members, I use survey and audio data to examine the team formation process. I found that entrepreneurs initiate contact with a range of potential cofounders: some of whom possess functional knowledge that is different from the entrepreneur and others who share the same functional background as the entrepreneur. However, conditional upon being approached by an entrepreneur, potential cofounders are more likely to join a functionally similar entrepreneur than a functionally dissimilar entrepreneur because potential cofounders view functionally similar entrepreneurs as more instrumentally attractive (i.e., competent) and interpersonally attractive (i.e., likeable). Cofounders\u27 feelings of attraction to the entrepreneur and the venture idea, in turn, influence which venture they choose to join. Second, I supplement this initial study with a quasi-experiment conducted at a local entrepreneur meetup event designed to test one of the proposed mechanisms underlying cofounders\u27 attraction to functionally similar entrepreneurs. In this study, I employ the speed dating research paradigm from the romantic relationships literature to manipulate cofounders\u27 social identity. I found that cofounders who invoke a broader superordinate social identity (i.e., seeing themselves as an entrepreneur) are more interpersonally attracted to functionally dissimilar entrepreneurs compared with cofounders who invoke a narrower functional identity (e.g., as a software developer). Together, these findings suggest that functional homophily in founding teams is influenced by potential cofounders\u27 preference to work with functionally similar entrepreneurs and that cofounders\u27 feelings of interpersonal attraction toward functionally dissimilar entrepreneurs can be enhanced by invoking a broader superordinate identity. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of new venture team formation, resource acquisition, and choice homophily

Entrepreneurship: The Why and How of Starting Your Own Business

What resources are available to the new entrepreneur? How do I know if my business idea is a good idea? What are the tax advantages of starting your own business? My research answers each of these questions in addition to many other questions the new entrepreneur might have. Part of my research insights were gained by experiential learning: I took a business idea of my own and took it through several key processes such as business idea generation, business model creation, market research, and advertising. I sought to learn more about the resources available to the new entrepreneur. In addition to the experiential process, l conducted traditional research by reviewing articles, research journals, books, and other materials that can help the new entrepreneur. In summary, it is extremely easy for the new entrepreneur to develop a business idea, conduct surveys, engage with customers, create a website, advertise online, and reap numerous tax advantages. Such tax advantages include increased deductions to income and tax-free income payments to the taxpayer\u27s children for their help in business operations

Staging of Venture Financing, Moral Hazard, and Patent Law

The literature on venture financing mainly focuses on entrepreneurial moral hazard. The investor, however, may behave opportunistically, too. We look at the case where the investor demands a higher share on the venture’s return before financing the next stage. Possibly, the staging of capital is the most salient feature of venture financing. The entrepreneur may be forced to accept the investor’s offer, when she is supposed to lose something by changing the investor. For instance, if the property rights on the invention are not sufficiently protected - because the entrepreneur has not filed for a patent or the invention does not meet the legal requirements for patent protection - the investor may use the idea for his own purposes once the entrepreneur terminates the relationship. This threat may force the entrepreneur to continue although the investor demands a higher share. As a consequence, she sticks with the investor, however, she may not choose the efficient level of specific investments, rather she underinvests. The impact of patent law is important. In the law and economics literature patent law is primarily seen as an instrument balancing the trade-off between setting incentives to innovate and limiting monopoly power of patent holders. It, however, overlooks the fact that an entrepreneur’s idea often only develops to a market product with the help of investors providing financial resources. Thus, I argue that there is an additional goal of patent law: mitigating conflicts in the venture financing process thereby making innovations more likely.venture capital, stage financing, moral hazard by investor, patent law,

The Importance of the Policy Entrepreneur in Policy Adoption

What factors influence the likelihood that a state will adopt a policy? I argue that the role of a policy entrepreneur is vital to policy diffusion and eventual adoption. Performing Event History Analysis, I investigate 28 states over 7 years that have adopted Erin’s Law, a child abuse education policy. Preliminary findings suggest that the states in which Erin Merryn, the policy entrepreneur, visited increased the likelihood that the state would adopt Erin’s Law. Recognizing the important role of a policy entrepreneur has valuable implications for the policy and diffusion literature

Battle for Control: How Venture Capitalists Affect the Development of Businesses

In my new podcast series, I interview business leaders to determine the affect of venture capital on the entrepreneur. First, I interview a serial startup entrepreneur to find out the true nature of venture capital, how to go about getting it, and how it affects the creative process. Next, I interview a blogger who thinks that venture capital can be very detrimental to business startups, and get his perspective on related issues. The interviewees: 1. Michah Baldiwn a) current CEO of Grahic.ly b) He and his team have raised over $350 million dollars of startup money 2. Peter Ireland a) Blogger and author, founder of antiventurecapital.com b) Wrote The Smart Startup Guide, which has been widely read by entrepreneur