Commitment or Control? Human Resource Management Practices in Female and Male-Led Businesses

This paper investigates the commitment-orientation of HRM practices in female- and male-led firms. A distinction is made between emphasizing commitment or control in the design of HRM practices. To test for gender differences use is made of a sample of 555 Dutch firms. Contrary to what is generally believed it is found that – when controlled for relevant factors related to the business (e.g., firm size, age, sector) – HRM in female-led firms is more control-oriented than that in male-led firms. More specifically, female-led firms are more likely to be characterized by fixed and clearly defined tasks, centralized decision-making and direct supervision of the production process.entrepreneurship;gender;human resource management;commitment;control

Explaining the entrepreneurial activity rate of women: A macro-level perspective

This study explains female entrepreneurship from a country perspective. Explanatory variables are derived from three streams of literature, including that on the determinants of entrepreneurship, female labour-force participation, and female entrepreneurship. To test the theoretical relationships, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data have been used, including total entrepreneurial activity rates for women and men for 2002, as well as a range of economic and institutional variables from standardised national statistics for 37 countries. We found that the factors determining female and male entrepreneurship at the macro-level are fairly similar. An updated version of this ScalesPaper can be found under number N200510.

Start-up capital: Differences between male and female entrepreneurs

Engelstalige uitgave van ‘Financiering van startende vrouwelijke ondernemers’ (bestelnummer A9916). Vrouwelijke en mannelijke ondernemers verschillen in de manier van financiering van hun bedrijf. Dit betekent dat het geslacht van de ondernemer van invloed is op de hoogte van het startkapitaal en op de aard van de financiering. Als de ondernemer een vrouw is, heeft dit positieve invloed op het aandeel bankkrediet in het startkapitaal. Ingegaan wordt onder meer op verschillen tussen mannelijke en vrouwelijke ondernemers, ervaring, onderwijs, parttime ondernemerschap en netwerken.

Overoptimism among Founders: The Role of Information and Motivation

This study empirically investigates factors that influence overoptimism across nascent entrepreneurs. We distinguish between two main groups of determinants (information, motivation) and three types of overoptimism (income, psychological burden, leisure time). Findings indicate that entrepreneurs who have relevant business information are more realistic and that entrepreneurs with a high level of general knowledge, acquired through education or previous (unrelated) entrepreneurial experience, are more overoptimistic. External advice and business planning do not appear to limit subsequent overoptimism. Entrepreneurs are less overoptimistic about the pecuniary or non-pecuniary benefits of self-employment when these benefits are closely related to the initial motivation for starting up the business.information;motivation;nascent entrepreneurs;overoptimism

Start-Up Capital

Female and male entrepreneurs differ in the way they finance their businesses. This can be attributed to the type of business and the type of management and experience (indirect effect). Female start-ups may also experience other barriers based upon discriminatory effects (direct effect). Whether gender has an impact on size and composition of start-up capital, is the subject of the present paper. To test for these direct and indirect effects data of 2000 Dutch starting entrepreneurs, of whom approximately 500 are women, are used.Entrepeneurship;Financing;Gender;Start-ups

Entrepreneurial Diversity and Economic Growth

Most studies investigating the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth treat entrepreneurs as a homogeneous group. This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial diversity on national economic growth. Using data for 36 countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor we investigate whether the impact on growth depends on socio-demographic diversity in entrepreneurship (in terms of age, education and gender). We find that in less developed countries older and higher educated entrepreneurs are particularly important for stimulating economic growth, while for developed countries younger entrepreneurs are more important. Accordingly, policy should aim at stimulating particular groups of entrepreneurs, rather than just the number of entrepreneurs.entrepreneurship;diversity;economic development

Entrepreneurial diversity and economic growth

We investigate the impact of entrepreneurial diversity on national economic growth. More specifically, using data for 36 countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, we investigate whether the impact of entrepreneurial activity is different for different sociodemographic groups. Diversity is measured in terms of age, education and gender. We find that in less developed countries, older and higher educated entrepreneurs are particularly important for stimulating economic growth, while for highly developed countries the contribution of younger entrepreneurs is more important. We do not find evidence for a differential contribution of female and male entrepreneurs.

Overoptimism among entrepreneurs in new ventures: the role of information and motivation

There are various reasons why some entrepreneurs may be more overoptimistic at the start of their ventures than others. We distinguish between four broad categories of determining factors and three areas of overoptimism (income, psychological burden and leisure time) and empirically investigate those for a sample of Dutch start-ups. The first category is information. We find that more specifically informed entrepreneurs are less likely to be overoptimistic while (general) educationincreases overoptimism. The second category is motivation. Entrepreneurs motivated by pull factors are found to be less overoptimistic than those who are ‘pushed’ to start a venture. The third category encompasses personal characteristics such as gender, age, having a life partner and access to other income. The fourth category of firm characteristics includes factors such as sector, take-over versus newly started business, and home-based versus separate business premises. We find little additional explanatory power of these personal and firm characteristics.

What Determines the Growth Ambition of Dutch Early-Stage Entrepreneurs?

This paper investigates the determinants of the ambition to grow among Dutch early-stage entrepreneurs (nascents and young business owners). We use Adult Population Survey data of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the Netherlands. Merging cross-sectional data of the years 2002 to 2007, we arrive at a sample of 409 nascents and 336 young business owners. Growth ambition is measured by asking the respondent which statement fits him or her best: (1) I want my company to be as large as possible, or (2) I want a size I can manage myself or with a few key employees. We find that nascent entrepreneurs and young business owners are equally likely to strive after business growth. For nascent entrepreneurs we find that fear of failure and entrepreneurial self-efficacy are important factors explaining growth ambition. Starting a business because of perceiving and exploiting a business opportunity (as opposed to starting a business out of necessity) is an important driver of growth ambition for both nascents and young business owners, although it is more important for nascents.