Effectual Entrepreneurship: Book Review

This review offers an overview of the new textbook, titled “Effectual Entrepreneurship” (2011, Routledge), by Read, Sarasvathy, Dew, Wiltbank, and Ohlsson (hereafter RSDWO). The book addresses large audiences of students, scholars, latent and current entrepreneurs, offering a new insight on the study and practice of entrepreneurship. This is achieved via the overview and critical evaluation of the stylized facts of the entrepreneurship literature, and the provision of the principles of effectual entrepreneurship for startups, growing ventures and social enterprises. This synthesis is presented in a unique non‐technical way that makes the book a valuable handbook for individuals from all backgrounds with an interest in entrepreneurship as a discipline or as practice. The authors envisage the role of entrepreneurial education based on the view that entrepreneurship is not necessarily innate, and this is exactly what they achieve: the production of a remarkable entrepreneurship education tool

Earnings Aspirations and Job Satisfaction: The Affective and Cognitive Impact of Earnings Comparisons

Theories of interdependent preferences predicts that the effect of peer earnings on individual well-being is either negative, the “relative deprivation”, or positive the “cognitive effect”. The evidence so far has attributed the dominance of each of the above effects on the country’s economic and political environment. This study claims that relative earnings can affect job satisfaction in two opposite ways, through the affective, “relative deprivation”, and the cognitive channel. The dominance of each effect depends on the individual-specific financial situation rather than the country’s environment. Utilising a longitudinal dataset for British employees, the results of this study show that the cognitive informational effect of “peer earnings” dominates social comparisons for those in financial distress. It further suggests job satisfaction is a relative concept

Union Mediation and Adaptation to Reciprocal Loyalty Arrangements

This study assesses the industrial relations application of the “loyalty-exit-voice” proposition. The loyalty concept is linked to reciprocal employer-employee arrangements and examined as a job attribute in a vignette questionnaire distributed to low and medium-skilled employees. The responses provided by employees in three European countries indicate that reciprocal loyalty arrangements, which involve the exchange of higher effort for job security, are one of the most desirable job attributes. This attribute exerts a higher impact on the job evaluations provided by unionised workers, compared to their non-union counterparts. This pattern is robust to a number of methodological considerations. It appears to be an outcome of adaptation to union mediated cooperation. Overall the evidence suggests that the loyalty-job evaluation profiles of unionised workers are receptive to repeated interaction and negative shocks, such as unemployment experience. This is not the case for the non-union workers. Finally, unionised workers appear to “voice” a lower job satisfaction, but exhibit low “exit” intentions, compared to the non-unionised labour.EPICURUS, a project supported by the European Commission through the 5th Framework Programme “Improving Human Potential” (contract number: HPSE-CT-2002-00143

Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in View of a Growing Youth Demographic: The Russian Case

Our study contributes to the financial literacy literature by examining its association with retirement planning in an interesting and novel context, i.e. that of a country with a relatively old and rapidly ageing population, large regional disparities and a rapidly emerging financial market. Even though consumer borrowing is increasing very rapidly in Russia, we find that only 36.3% of respondents in our sample know about the working of interest compounding and only half can answer a simple question about inflation. In a country with pervasive public pension provision, we find that financial literacy is significantly and positively related to retirement planning using private pension funds and schemes. Residents in rural areas are much more reliant on the public provision and invest less in private schemes and savings. The results of our study have a clear policy implication; along with encouraging the availability of private retirement plans and financial products, efforts to improve financial literacy can be pivotal to the expansion in the use of such schemes

Financial literacy and retirement planning : the Russian case

The authors examine the association of financial literacy with retirement planning in Russia, a country with a relatively old and rapidly aging population, large regional disparities, and a rapidly emerging financial market. They find that only 36.3 percent of respondents in the sample understand interest compounding and only half can answer a simple question about inflation. In a country with widespread public pension provisions, they find that financial literacy is significantly and positively related to retirement planning involving private pension funds and schemes. Thus, along with encouraging the availability of private retirement plans, efforts to improve financial literacy could be pivotal to the expansion of the use of such schemes.Financial Literacy,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,Gender and Law

The Inter-Related Dynamics of Dual Job Holding, Human Capital and Occupational Choice

The inter-related dynamics of dual job-holding, human capital and occupational choice between primary and secondary jobs are investigated, using a panel sample (1991-2005) of UK employees from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). A sequential profile of the working lives of employees is examined, investigating, first, the determinants of multiple job-holding, second, the factors affecting the occupational choice of a secondary job, third, the relationship between multiple-job holding and job mobility and, lastly, the spillover effects of multiple job-holding on occupational mobility between primary jobs. The evidence indicates that dual job-holding may facilitate job transition, as it may act as a stepping-stone towards new primary jobs, particularly self-employment.moonlighting, occupational choice, human capital, mobility

Financial literacy and the financial crisis

The ability of consumers to make informed financial decisions improves their chances of having sound personal finance. This paper uses a panel dataset from Russia, where consumer loans grew at an astounding rate -- from about US$10 billion in 2003 to over US$170 billion in 2008 -- to examine the importance of financial literacy and its relationship with behavior. The survey asked questions on financial literacy, consumer borrowing (formal and informal), and spending behavior. The paper studies the consequences of greater financial literacy on the use of financial products and financial planning. Even though consumer borrowing rose rapidly in Russia, only 41 percent of the survey respondents understood how interest compounding worked and only 46 percent could answer a simple question about inflation. Financial literacy is positively related to participation in financial markets and negatively related to the use of informal sources of borrowing. Individuals with higher rates of financial literacy are significantly more likely to report having more unspent income at the end of the month and higher spending capacity. The relationship between financial literacy and the availability of unspent income is more evident during the financial crisis, suggesting that better financial literacy may better equip individuals to deal with macroeconomic shocks.Financial Literacy,Access to Finance,Access&Equity in Basic Education,Education For All,Debt Markets

Entrepreneurship in post-conflict transition : the role of informality and access to finance

The authors examine the factors affecting the transition to self-employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, using the World Bank Living Standard Measurement Survey panel household survey for the years 2001-2004. In the beginning of the sample, the country changed its legal framework, with the primary aim to promote labor market flexibility and to encourage entrepreneurial activity. The analysis identifies individuals that switched to self-employment (employers and own account) during the sample period and the viability of this transition, in terms of business survival for more than one year. The results suggest an important role for financing constraints. Specifically, wealthier households are more likely to become entrepreneurs and survive in self-employment. After controlling for household wealth, having an existing bank relationship increases the likelihood of starting a business with hired employees and increases the chances of survival for the new entrepreneur. By contrast, overseas - and in some cases domestic - remittances decrease the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur.Access to Finance,Labor Markets,,Banks&Banking Reform,Labor Policies

Job flows, returns to skill, and rent-sharing at the dawn of the new millennium: A firm-level inquiry from the BRICS

We present a firm-level inquiry on labour-demand characteristics in the BRICS economies, using standardized data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys for the pre-crisis period of 2002-2003. The BRICS countries are the growth champions of that period, with numerous discussions on the effect of growth on inequality and the role of skills on labour-market performance. We examine employment, employment growth and its constituents, as well the returns to skill and the incidence of rent-sharing. We find that SMEs in the BRICS exhibit lower gross employment growth, compared to large firms. Large firms in Brazil, Russia and South Africa are responsible for most of the net job creation. In contrast, small and medium firms in China and India exhibit higher net job creation rates compared to large firms. Younger firms in Brazil, Russia and India generate higher net job creation figures, in contrast to China and South Africa, in which it is the large firms that generate more net new jobs. Foreign firms in China exhibit the highest net job creation, while in Brazil and India domestic firms create most of the new net employment. Private firms are responsible for most of the net job creation and job reallocation in all BRICS counties. The returns to skill are lower in SMEs and young firms, and we find evidence in favour of rent sharing, particularly in Brazil and India, by foreign and exporting firms, and by SMEs in China

Job flows, returns to skill, and rent-sharing at the dawn of the new millennium: A firm-level inquiry from the BRICS

We present a firm-level inquiry on labour-demand characteristics in the BRICS economies, using standardized data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys for the pre-crisis period of 2002-2003. The BRICS countries are the growth champions of that period, with numerous discussions on the effect of growth on inequality and the role of skills on labour-market performance. We examine employment, employment growth and its constituents, as well the returns to skill and the incidence of rent-sharing. We find that SMEs in the BRICS exhibit lower gross employment growth, compared to large firms. Large firms in Brazil, Russia and South Africa are responsible for most of the net job creation. In contrast, small and medium firms in China and India exhibit higher net job creation rates compared to large firms. Younger firms in Brazil, Russia and India generate higher net job creation figures, in contrast to China and South Africa, in which it is the large firms that generate more net new jobs. Foreign firms in China exhibit the highest net job creation, while in Brazil and India domestic firms create most of the new net employment. Private firms are responsible for most of the net job creation and job reallocation in all BRICS counties. The returns to skill are lower in SMEs and young firms, and we find evidence in favour of rent sharing, particularly in Brazil and India, by foreign and exporting firms, and by SMEs in China