Entrepreneurial Behavior

Sources of Knowledge and Entrepreneurial Behavior delves into the nature and importance of the relationship between sources of knowledge and entrepreneurial behavior, and should be of interest to both academics and policy-makers. David B. Audretsch and Albert N. Link use the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship as the conceptual foundation for why individuals decide to become entrepreneurs. Then, using a database of more than 4,000 small and relatively new European companies from 10 different countries, called the AEGIS database, Audretsch and Link offer new insights about the relationship between knowledge sources and entrepreneurial behavior. In their analysis of the empirical evidence in support of the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship, Audretsch and Link conclude that there is no singular source of knowledge driving entrepreneurship, but a plethora of knowledge sources, each associated with different dimensions of entrepreneurial activity. The intellectual breakthrough in this book is not that knowledge matters or that it especially matters for entrepreneurship. Rather, Audretsch and Link show that knowledge, and especially entrepreneurial knowledge, is not a homogeneous phenomenon. There are multiple sources of knowledge that act on entrepreneurial performance in a myriad of ways.

Why do only some people and not others recognize entrepreneurial opportunities? What is the impact of entrepreneurship education on students' entrepreneurial abilities and their intention to start a new venture? How does human capital influence the decision to become an entrepreneur? The author addresses these questions and further aspects of entrepreneurial behavior and activity. Three empirical studies cover topics related to the three phases in the entrepreneurial process - opportunity recognition, evaluation, and exploitation

This Research Handbook provides a comprehensive and detailed exploration of this question: What do entrepreneurs do? The book offers three perspectives (behaviour, practice, process) on this question, demonstrates specific methods for answering the question (ethnography, autoethnography, participant observation, diaries, social media platforms and multilevel research techniques) and provides insights into the implications of pursuing this question as it pertains to: the timing and relationality of entrepreneurial activities, the influence of socially situated cognitions, the effect of team membership, and, the challenges of pursuing a behaviourally oriented entrepreneurship pedagogy.

The success, longevity, and survival of SMEs are deeply linked to the effectiveness of individual decision-making processes, and established firms need to develop an entrepreneurial and innovative decision-making processes to maintain competitive advantages in a continuously changing and increasingly turbulent environment.

In recent years entrepreneurship has become one of the most popular fields of research in management studies. As the subject has broadened, increasing attention has been paid to the behavioural aspects of different practices to identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. This timely book analyses three key strands of contemporary research into entrepreneurial behaviour: intention, education and orientation. It offers novel insights that can be applied to foster entrepreneurial activities in different settings.

This research investigates determinants of entrepreneurial behaviour in one of the most impoverished areas of Pakistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Unlike the developed world, the scenario in emerging economies is quite different, where entrepreneurs have to rely primarily on socio-cultural factors that facilitate them to pursue entrepreneurship as a means to earn livelihoods. However, little predictive empirical work has investigated enterprising behaviour in the tribal areas of Pakistan. This study examines the relative strength of selected entrepre-neurial determinant in the Pashtun tribal culture. Persistent wars, economic downturn, and strong cultural adherence have turned the Pashtun tribesmen into necessity entrepreneurs. Based on primary data from 462 respondents, entre-preneurial behaviour measured by self-reported views toward risk-taking and innovativeness are related to economic, institutional, and cultural constructs using logistic regression models. Different sets of predictors emerged for risk-taking and innovativeness. We find some, but limited support for hypothesized determinants of entrepreneurial be-havior. This study informs academics as to how entrepreneurial behaviour of Pashtuns can be enhanced, setting up hypotheses and results for future research exploration, and can guide policy to stimulate underlying factors that will promote entrepreneurship in FATA.