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Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors

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Abstract

Although national culture is an important regulator of entrepreneurship, there is a dearth of studies that: (1) explore the effects of national cultural practices on entrepreneurial behaviors by individuals; (2) use appropriate multilevel research designs; (3) consider the effects of culture on different entrepreneurial behaviors, such as entry and post-entry growth aspirations. We combined Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) data from 42 countries for 2005–2008 to address these gaps, using a multilevel design. We found societal institutional collectivism practices negatively associated with entrepreneurial entry, but positively associated with entrepreneurial growth aspirations. Uncertainty avoidance practices were negatively associated with entry but not with growth aspirations, and performance orientation practices were positively associated with entry. Our analysis highlights the differential effects of cultural practices on entrepreneurial entry and growth aspirations, and demonstrates the value of multilevel techniques in analyzing the effect of culture on entrepreneurship.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the seminar participants at the Stockholm School of Economics, the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Research Conference held at Imperial College Business School, Patric Andersson, and Emre Yildiz for their comments and suggestions. We are especially grateful for the thoughtful and thorough comments provided by the special issue associate editor Mark F. Peterson and the three anonymous referees. Financial support from QinetiQ, EPSRC, and the Swedish Research Council is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial College Business School, London, UK

    Erkko Autio

  2. School of Business and Economics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, USA

    Saurav Pathak

  3. Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karl Wennberg

  4. The Ratio Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karl Wennberg

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  1. Erkko Autio
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  2. Saurav Pathak
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  3. Karl Wennberg
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Accepted by Mark Peterson, Consulting Editor, 6 March 2013. This paper has been with the authors for five revisions.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

Individual-level Self-Efficacy

You have the knowledge, skill and experience required to start a new business: Yes (=1)/No (=0).

Individual-level Fear of Failure

Fear of failure would prevent you from starting a business: Yes (=1)/No (=0).

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Autio, E., Pathak, S. & Wennberg, K. Consequences of cultural practices for entrepreneurial behaviors. J Int Bus Stud 44, 334–362 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2013.15

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