The aim of this paper is to explore business model innovation by Chinese entrepreneurial firms. Based on an in-depth investigation of entrepreneurial software firms, the findings suggest that Chinese entrepreneurial firms use a combination of experimentation and effectuation strategies to facilitate business model innovation, while mitigating the challenges of China’s business environment. Base...

Education is a well-known driver of (entrepreneurial) income. The measurement of its influence, however, suffers from endogeneity suspicion. For instance, ability and occupational choice are mentioned as driving both the level of (entrepreneurial) income and of education. Using instru-mental variables can provide a way out. However, two questions remain: whether endogeneity is really present an...

We develop a utility-maximization model to explain why some choose to be entrepreneurs while others prefer employment. The individual’s utility from any occupation is assumed to depend on income, work effort, risk bearing, independence, and other working conditions of that occupation. The individual chooses the occupation and career path that maximizes utility. We demonstrate that the incentive...

Growth is an important consideration in any business and more so for entrepreneurial firms. Many fast growth firms are considered entrepreneurial and pursue growth using innovative strategies (Das & He, 2006; Larson, 1992). However, there is anecdotal evidence that some firms achieve growth because of favourable circumstances such as being in the right industry at the right time. The purpose of...

In emerging high value markets, farmers are challenged by growth options. They can benefit from the growth options depending on their entrepreneurial orientation and how they engage in product quality improvement through adopting and generating innovations. Our study investigates the combined effects of entrepreneurial orientation and innovation adoption and generation on farm performance. Usin...

This chapter explores the relation between the concepts of entrepreneurial universities (EU) within the framework of Smart Specialization Strategies (S3). The latter is arising as a new competitive paradigm and universities can be of great importance for its successful implementation because of their contribution both as a partner institution, policy actor and producer of knowledge and social c...

We investigate how perceived parents’ performance in entrepreneurship (PPE) affects the entrepreneurial career intentions of offspring. We argue that while perceived PPE enhances offspring’s perceived entrepreneurial desirability and feasibility because of exposure mechanisms, it weakens the translation of both desirability and feasibility into entrepreneurial career intentions due to upward so...

The scholarly entrepreneurship community is coming to recognize what practicing entrepreneurs have known for some time — that passion is a central element of the entrepreneurial process. Recent developments have more carefully defined the construct of entrepreneurial passion and modeled its impact on entrepreneurial behaviors. This paper takes the next step by building a model of how that passi...

Prior research on middle managers has emphasized their vital role in the strategic and entrepreneurial process of established organizations. Yet we still know relatively little about how their actual behavior translates into superior performance. In this paper I examine how entrepreneurial behavior of middle managers—defined as innovative use of resources to explore and exploit opportunities—af...

The spatial activity patterns of firms in a multi-regional system are closely connected with the structure and evolution of regional labour markets. Based on an extensive data set (cross-section) on commuting flows in Germany, this paper aims to identify the relationship between entrepreneurial activity and spatial labour markets, by employing in particular the concept of ‘entrepreneurial city’...