Knowledge that Transforms

We examine the relationships between oxidative stress (i.e., manifestations of physiological stress), antioxidants, potentially negative health outcomes (i.e., triglyceride levels), and self-employment through two studies. Our results indicate that oxidative stress is associated with higher triglyceride levels and, as hypothesized, this relationship is mitigated in the presence of higher levels of antioxidants. Perhaps most interestingly, in both studies, we find that oxidative stress has a stronger positive relationship with triglyceride levels for individuals who are self-employed and have lower antioxidant levels relative to employed individuals. We discuss the implications of these findings on research regarding self-employment, stress, and well-being.

There is growing evidence that human biology and behavior are influenced by infectious microorganisms. One such microorganism is the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii ( TG). Using longitudinal data covering the female population of Denmark, we extend research on the relationship between TG infection and entrepreneurial activity and outcomes. Results indicate that TG infection is associated with a subsequent increase in the probability of becoming an entrepreneur, and is linked to other outcomes including venture performance. With parasite behavioral manipulation antithetical to rational judgment, we join a growing conversation on biology and alternative drivers of business venturing.

We investigate whether the polygenic risk score (PRS) of subjective well-being (SWB), a weighted combination of multiple genetic variants which captures an individual’s time-invariant genetic predisposition to SWB, influences the choice of self-employment and whether it explains differences in earnings between older self-employed and employed workers. In a sample of 4,571 individuals (50 to 65 years old) representing 14,937 individual-year observations from the Health and Retirement Study, we find that the PRS of SWB is positively associated with self-employment and earnings. However, contrary to our expectations, the positive association with earnings is not significantly different between self-employed and employed individuals.

In many markets, there are mediators whose public evaluations mark that a new entrepreneur has gained legitimacy. Their decision may be influenced by third-party sources signaling about the entrepreneur. We quantitatively study these micro-level processes in the art market, where the artist is the entrepreneur and the art gallery is the mediator. Our results show that it is not the quantity but the diversity of signaling sources, especially highly credible ones, that influence a mediator’s decision. This allows entrepreneurs full access to the market under the consensus that “proper” legitimacy has been gained. Our conclusions are maintained under alternative analyses.

Regions with spatial concentrations of businesses create conditions that spawn new firms, but also undercut new venture survival. Localized competition puts pressure on new firms to exit. Adding to this pressure to exit is regional path dependence, which limits the ability of firms to respond strategically to hostile local conditions. We investigate the extent to which the pressure to exit created by localized competition is moderated by three “path breaking” factors—new knowledge, industry diversity, and industry switching. We test and find broad support for our hypotheses using data from 355 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States spanning 2002 to 2010.

Despite its importance, our understanding of what entrepreneurial disappointment is, its attributions, and how it relates to depression is limited. Drawing on a corpus of 27,906 semi-anonymous online posts, we identified entrepreneurial disappointment, inductively uncovered its attributions and examined how depression differs between attributions. We found that posts with internal, stable, and global disappointment attributions (e.g., not fitting entrepreneurial norms) are, on average, higher in depression symptoms than posts with external, unstable, and specific disappointment attributions (e.g., firm performance). Our findings offer novel theoretical and methodological avenues for future research on entrepreneurs’ affective experiences and mental health.

Digitization has enabled “testing-the-waters” in entrepreneurial finance whereby investors can make nonbinding commitments in equity crowdfunding prior to an actual campaign to ascertain interest in the project. We consider whether these nonbinding equity investment commitments are informative about actual investments during the campaign and, thus, ultimate startup funding success. The data indicate that only 18% of nonbinding commitments are, in fact, invested. The evidence is consistent with hypothetical bias. Hypothetical bias is significantly less pronounced among women and among investors living in higher income areas or in areas with higher levels of education. While investment intentions are only partially reliable at the individual level, the aggregate amount of collected investment intentions is a strong predictor of campaign success. We investigate alternative reasons for withdrawals, such as lying and informational motives, both of which we find implausible alternatives to hypothetical bias.

We use a multiple case study approach to investigate “entrepreneurial leaps,” transition phases between dynamic states in which entrepreneurial action focused on reconfiguring key elements of the business model allows a firm to tap into new pools of resources through accessing and exploiting new market. Based on an analysis of 24 cases from three European countries, we derive a general process model of entrepreneurial leaps and identify four different patterns of how these transitions typically unfolds. The combination of dynamic states and entrepreneurial leaps can be used as a general framework for explaining nonlinear growth processes in firms.

How does the socioemotional wealth (SEW) of a family firm affect its deal valuation in acquisition? Using a sample of 515 completed transactions of S&P 500 firms over the period 2003–2016, we examine a number of contexts and find that SEW creates differential valuations of targets by family firms vis-à-vis non-family firms. Particularly from an internationalization perspective, acquisitions may be an ideal option for family firms because foreign acquisitions may be loosely coupled from the core firm. Post-hoc analyses on the heterogeneity in family governance reveal that founder and descendant board chairs may have different perceptions of SEW.