Towards a New Theory of Entrepreneurship in Culture and Gender: A Grounded Study of Thailand's Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs

This paper explores the phenomenon of Thailand's female entrepreneurs and account for some of the cultural drivers in the way in which Thai women operate to be the leading country in the world for female entrepreneurship in terms of entrepreneurial activity. Based on interviews, media reporting, event attendance, and presentations collected during the annual conference for Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World (LWEW) in Bangkok, Thailand. We report the ways in which the leading Thai female entrepreneurs and male senior government officials explain the role of culture in legitimatising entrepreneurial activity. We develop a picture of the female entrepreneurship is harmonious with Thai cultural and religious models of appropriate female behaviour and so provides some insights into the cultural reasons for prevalence of female entrepreneurial activity

Foreign Direct Investment and Indigenous Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Wales and Ireland

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays an important role in the economic development strategies of several countries. FDI inflows bring in the latest technology, create employment and lead to tradable goods. FDI not only enables the transfer of intangibles to another country but also makes knowledge spillovers possible and therefore may play a major role in indigenous entrepreneurship. These knowledge spillovers can lead to the establishment of new indigenous enterprises in the host country leading to further economic development (Young, Hood & Peters, 1994). However, not all types of FDI have the same potential for knowledge spillovers. The potential for knowledge spillovers is related to the type of FDI and the level of human capital in the host country. FDI in high technology industries is more likely to generate knowledge-intensive spillovers (Buckley, Newbould & Thurwell, 1988). High levels of human capital (formal education, on-the-job training including industry, management and business development experience) make it easier for entrepreneurs to start high value-added firms. Individuals working in MNEs obtain higher levels of training and development than in local firms (Chen, 1983; UNCTAD, 1994) and wish to obtain the best returns for these skills. Individuals may feel unable to realize appropriate returns in the existing firm or may believe that the bureaucratic MNE does not value this knowledge, and seize the opportunity to create a new entity (Acs & Varga, 2004). While several studies examine the relationship between formal education and FDI (OECD, 2002), and other studies are concerned with the relationship between human capital and entrepreneurship (Bates, 1990), very few studies explore the relationship between FDI, human capital and entrepreneurship. Using a combination of case studies and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) population surveys in four regions, we explore how the link between FDI spillovers and indigenous entrepreneurial activity varies by human capital and cultural context in Ireland and Wales

SME Choice of Direct and Indirect Export Modes: Resource Dependency and Institutional Theory Perspectives

This paper develops and tests resource dependency and institutional theory arguments for explaining two choices facing SMEs: the decision to export or not, and, in case a firm has decided to export, the choice between exporting directly or indirectly. We test four hypotheses using a sample of 871 Dutch SMEs and applying multinomial and binomial logistic regression analysis. Our results suggest that institutional theory perspectives may be mainly relevant in explaining the choice of whether or not to export, while resource dependency theory arguments may be particularly relevant in explaining the choice between direct and indirect export modes. Our findings have important implications for policy and research

Entrepreneurial Career Capital, Innovation and New Venture Export Orientation

This paper explores the role of entrepreneurial human capital, entrepreneurial social capital and innovation in explaining new ventures' levels of export orientation. We use Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data from 9,342 early-stage venture entrepreneurs in 36 countries. Our results suggest that both entrepreneurial human capital and entrepreneurial social capital are important in explaining new ventures' export orientation. Entrepreneurial human capital increases the probability for new ventures to offer new products or services. New ventures with unique products or services are more likely to export, indicating that entrepreneurial human capital both has a direct positive relationship with new ventures' export and an indirect positive relationship through the venture's new product or service offerings. We also find that compared to moderate exporters, new ventures with higher export orientation levels are more likely to possess entrepreneurial human and entrepreneurial social capital and to be more innovative.

The state of gender representation on corporate boards around the world

Siri Terjesen takes stock of increasingly researched international initiatives to bring gender equality in the top echelons of corporation

Female presence on corporate boards: a multi-country study of environmental context

A growing body of ethics research investigates gender diversity and governance on corporate boards, at individual and firm levels, in single country studies. In this study, we explore the environmental context of female representation on corporate boards of directors, using data from forty-three countries. We sug-gest that womens representation on corporate boards may be shaped by the larger environment, including the social, political and economic structures of individual countries. We use logit regression to conduct our analysis. Our re-sults indicate that countries with higher representation of women on boards are more likely to have women in senior management and more equal ratios of male to female pay. However, we find that countries with a longer tradition of womens political representation are less likely to have high levels of female board representation

The Entrepreneurship of Mega-sporting Events: An Analysis of the 2006 IAU World Cup

In October 2006, Misari, South Korea, takes the world stage in athletics, hosting the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 100km World Cup [hereinafter IAU World Cup]. The IAU World Cup is the leading global ultrarunning championship and is sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the international governing body for the sport of athletics, and is expected to attract over 300 athletes and managers from 40 countries and another 10,000 local runners, spectators and volunteers are expected to participate. Ultrarunning, also termed ''ultradistance'' or ''ultramarathoning,'' describes any event longer than the traditional 42.2 kilometers marathon distance, and is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, particularly in Asia. Each year, over 100,000 people around the world complete an ultramarathon, including an estimated 2,000 in South Korea's twenty ultramarathons. The IAU World Cup is an example of a truly entrepreneurial endeavor in the Asian sports industry. As yet, however, there has been little research on ultrarunning (outside kinesiology journals), and entrepreneurship in the sports industry, particularly in Asian environments. This article proceeds as follows. First, the context of Korea, mega-sporting events and ultrarunning is reviewed. A theoretical framework for new venture development, based on entrepreneurial behaviour, opportunity recognition and resource accumulation is put forward. Based on a longitudinal case study and interviews with key IAU World Cup organizers and stakeholders and observation at the World Cup, this paper details the entrepreneurial development and professionalism of ultrarunning in Korea, culminating with the 2006 hosting of the IAU World Cup. We conclude with implications for the future of mega-sporting events in Asia and future research directions