Knowledge that Transforms

This article investigates how firms’ temporal orientation—operationalized through their investment horizon—influences the growth process. We propose that longer investment horizons reflect a forward-looking orientation that facilitates resource accumulation and capability development, ultimately supporting firm expansion. However, we also argue that excessively long horizons may lead to diminishing returns due to organizational frictions and coordination constraints. We find an inverted U-shaped relationship between investment horizon and growth in fixed assets, employment, and sales. These findings underscore the complex role of temporal orientation in shaping distinct aspects of firm growth.

The entrepreneurship literature has focused on the communicative function of language, but has rarely examined linguistic capital’s effects on entrepreneurship, particularly that of dialect similarity. This research explores the role of dialect similarity in the self-employment of rural-urban migrants and how social capital, including networks and trust, mediates the role of dialect similarity in a developing economy setting. Integrating the linguistic capital theory of French sociologist Bourdieu with the social capital theory, the study examines the decision of rural-urban migrants’ self-employment in China. Analyzing the dataset from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey, we argue that rural-urban migrants who speak a dialect similar to the place of residence have a higher likelihood of engaging in self-employment, and that social capital plays a positive mediating role in self-employment decisions. We employ the Instrumental Variable and Propensity Score Matching method with a quasi-experimental approach for our empirical test. Results from both approaches strongly support our hypotheses. Lastly, research contributions and implications are discussed.

Entrepreneurial performance is often right-skewed and heavy-tailed, yet empirical studies typically focus on average outcomes, assuming normality. Recent research addresses this by examining full performance distributions. We extend this work by introducing an intuitive framework with three distinct characteristics of distributional tails: (a) tail impact, the contribution of star performers relative to the rest; (b) tail extremity, the extent by which the highest performer exceeds the typical performer; and (c) tail frequency, the fraction of performers who are stars. We outline a methodological guide, offer illustrative examples, and provide R code to enrich future investigations of star performance in entrepreneurship.

We extend recent work on knowledge problems by observing that the complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty of entrepreneurship pertain not only to action-outcome likelihoods but also to the very criteria of entrepreneurial judgment. Most judgment criteria—value, opportunity, options, outcomes, etc.—are “fuzzy,” rendering much of entrepreneurial judgment imperfectly suited for probabilistic analysis. Fuzzy sets and natural language accommodate partial category membership, thus offering a more approximate representation of the remarkable ability of the entrepreneurial mind to conceptualize ill-structured and abstract problems. We explain how entrepreneurs use linguistic variables to navigate and convey the complex, gradient nature of uncertainty.

Some research has suggested that investors prefer pitches made by men rather than women entrepreneurs, and physically attractive men entrepreneurs are even more successful than their physically unattractive counterparts. However, empirical evidence remains limited. We re-examine these findings using a large archival dataset with 9,285 entrepreneurs across 13 industries and 105 countries between the years of 2014 to 2018. Our results replicate the female penalty effect—women raised 12.9% less funds compared to men. However, we found that the physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs has a negative main effect on startups’ success, and that this effect is only significant for men entrepreneurs.

Users are recognized as a vital source of innovation and entrepreneurship, transitioning from passive consumers to active creators. This shift has significantly impacted the entrepreneurial landscape, prompting multidisciplinary research. Using bibliometric and thematic coding, our study critically analyzes 179 articles published over a 25-year period. Our review presents a theoretical analysis and an integrative conceptual framework comprising eight inductively generated topics nested within three clusters, representing distinctive motivations, processes, and outcomes of user entrepreneurship. Our study also maps the theoretical foundations that have shaped the field, highlighting both dominant perspectives and opportunities for further theoretical development. By clarifying the distinctiveness of user entrepreneurship, our review advances theoretical understanding and provides a structured agenda for future knowledge accumulation.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been increasingly linked to entrepreneurship, yet existing findings remain fragmented and, at times, contradictory. This meta-analysis synthesizes 298 effect sizes from 47 studies to examine the relationships between ADHD (inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, total symptoms, and clinical diagnosis) and entrepreneurial attitudes, behaviors, and post-launch outcomes. The results show hyperactivity/impulsivity is positively associated with entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviors, but not significantly related to post-launch outcomes. Conversely, inattention is negatively associated with post-launch outcomes. Total ADHD symptoms and diagnosis are positively related to entrepreneurial behaviors, yet negatively linked to outcomes. We conclude by proposing directions for future research. JEL code: L26, I10, J24

Building on research on social class origin and cognitive concepts from the psychology literature, we propose that social class environment during childhood creates class-based cognitive imprints among individuals, leading to contextualist cognitive tendencies among lower-class individuals and solipsistic cognitive tendencies among upper-class individuals. We theorize that these class-based cognitive tendencies explain the prosocial behavior of individuals, such that the philanthropic orientation is greater among entrepreneurs of lower-class origin compared with those of upper-class origin. The philanthropic orientation among lower-class entrepreneurs is further amplified by imprints of education and political propaganda. These theoretical predictions received support considering entrepreneurs in Chinese private enterprises. Our study contributes to the literature on the social class origin concept from the social stratification theory, the psychology literature on cognitive perspectives, and imprinting theory.

This methodological brief explains why and how family business research should account for public/private ownership to better understand how family control and influence affect firm outcomes. To support our arguments, we review the methodologies used in family business studies and identify four methodological pitfalls that obscure heterogeneity in family firm private/public ownership. We propose practical solutions to address those pitfalls and apply them to a recent study, showing how accounting for private/public ownership alters its empirical findings. The implication of our brief is that more fine-grained methodological attention to public/private family firm ownership will enhance family business research.