The Promise And Peril Of Entrepreneurship

A clearer view of entrepreneurship, based on new comprehensive data, that upends what we know about job creation and survival among US startups. Startups create jobs and power economic growth. That’s an article of faith in the United States—but, as The Promise and Peril of Entrepreneurship reveals, our faith may be built on shaky ground. Economists Robert Fairlie, Zachary Kroff, Javier Miranda, and Nikolas Zolas—working with Census Bureau microdata—have developed a new data set, the Comprehensive Startup Panel, that tracks job creation and the survival of every startup in the country. In doing so, they recalibrate our understanding of how startups behave in the US economy. Specifically, their work seeks to answer three critical questions: How many jobs does each entrepreneur create? Do those jobs disappear quickly? And how long do entrepreneurial enterprises survive? Job creation and survival rates are, the authors conclude, much lower than those reported by official federal sources. Such discrepancies emerge from the more comprehensive picture drawn from this new data set—a picture that, for instance, highlights the important but understudied differences between employer firms (startups that hire people) and nonemployer firms (startups that do not initially hire people but may do so in later years as they grow). This reframing captures the vast number of businesses that start with no employees, a number largely missing from the statistics underpinning the mythos of the riskiness of entrepreneurship. The book also explores who owns startups—focusing on differences by race and ethnicity. With its new, wider view of the realities of job creation and survival among startups, The Promise and Peril of Entrepreneurship has significant implications for economic policymaking and research, and for the billions of dollars that the government and the private sector invest in promoting entrepreneurship.

A clearer view of entrepreneurship, based on new comprehensive data, that upends what we know about job creation and survival among US startups. Startups create jobs and power economic growth. That’s an article of faith in the United States—but, as The Promise and Peril of Entrepreneurship reveals, our faith may be built on shaky ground. Economists Robert Fairlie, Zachary Kroff, Javier Miranda, and Nikolas Zolas—working with Census Bureau microdata—have developed a new data set, the Comprehensive Startup Panel, that tracks job creation and the survival of every startup in the country. In doing so, they recalibrate our understanding of how startups behave in the US economy. Specifically, their work seeks to answer three critical questions: How many jobs does each entrepreneur create? Do those jobs disappear quickly? And how long do entrepreneurial enterprises survive? Job creation and survival rates are, the authors conclude, much lower than those reported by official federal sources. Such discrepancies emerge from the more comprehensive picture drawn from this new data set—a picture that, for instance, highlights the important but understudied differences between employer firms (startups that hire people) and nonemployer firms (startups that do not initially hire people but may do so in later years as they grow). This reframing captures the vast number of businesses that start with no employees, a number largely missing from the statistics underpinning the mythos of the riskiness of entrepreneurship. The book also explores who owns startups—focusing on differences by race and ethnicity. With its new, wider view of the realities of job creation and survival among startups, The Promise and Peril of Entrepreneurship has significant implications for economic policymaking and research, and for the billions of dollars that the government and the private sector invest in promoting entrepreneurship.

Is social enterprise yet another example of the expansion of the market into all areas of life and society, in this case the marketization of poverty? Or does it offer genuine hope as part of a solution to some of the challenges facing contemporary society, and as an example of an economy of mutuality? Framing this question theologically, does it offer the potential of “faithful economic practice”? The Promise of Social Enterprise makes the case that how we answer this depends on the language we use to describe—and perform—social enterprise. Arguing for the need to move beyond the narrow and reductionistic logic of mainstream economics, the economic nature of the language of gift and mutuality is explored. Drawing on the theological framework of Pope Benedict XVI and the work of John Barclay on Paul’s understanding of the social implications of the Christ-gift, this book considers the contribution that a theology of gift, with its incongruity and mutuality, makes to the theory and practice of social enterprise.

An estimated one billion individuals in both developed and developing nations can be defined as necessity entrepreneurs; individuals who have no other viable option for licit income than to start a small, income generating activity. However, the emphasis on providing business and leadership training to necessity entrepreneurs is only just gaining traction. This book provides the first-known global analysis dedicated exclusively to organizations from both the public and private sectors that are specifically involved with microenterprise education for necessity entrepreneurs. The authors provide a pragmatic synopsis and evaluate the efficacy of the programs that have been, currently are, or will soon be teaching and/or training necessity entrepreneurs around the globe.

Based on recognition, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities, entrepreneurship is a process that stimulates economic growth, provides us with new products and services, and serves as a solution to low unemployment rates. Hence, many governments encourage their citizens to embrace entrepreneurship as a strategy to mitigate unemployment, particularly youth and graduate unemployment. While studies show that entrepreneurship education has yielded positive results in Western countries, in other parts of the world it seems that most students still prefer to seek paid employment in their career of choice. Promoting Entrepreneurship to Reduce Graduate Unemployment seeks to expand understanding of the barriers that face graduates in becoming entrepreneurs in various countries, examining the role of educational institutions in promoting graduate entrepreneurship and evaluating governments as well as other schemes that promote graduate entrepreneurship. Although it will not be a panacea for all the obstacles that impede graduate entrepreneurship, it is hoped that this book will illuminate the entrepreneurship career path, serve as a platform for further diagnosis for reducing graduate unemployment, and highlight areas in need of further research. Covering topics such as entrepreneurial self-efficacy, career choice, and educated unemployment, it serves as a dynamic resource for educators, educational administration and faculty, government institutions, graduate students, student organizations, professionals, researchers, and academicians.

There are many theories on why managers do not (as a behavior) or should not (as a value) supplement profit orientation with people-centrism and planet sensitivity. In practice, managers do not supplement profit orientation with considerations for people and the planet unless they have the tools and know how to make that possible. This book seeks to address that by focusing on the normative dimension of organizational development. There are two competing norms for developing an organization: first, as a profit-oriented business enterprise; and second, as a people-centric, planet-sensitive, profit-oriented business or social enterprise.The performance of a business is a concern for all stakeholders. With the growing realization of the importance of indirect stakeholders like the society and the planet, it is increasingly important to raise awareness about the social and environmental responsibilities of businesses and organizations. This book is a must-read for academics, researchers, practitioners and policymakers who are concerned about the triple bottom-line (Planet-People-Profit) performance of businesses, which is critical for their long-term sustainability. It covers topics pertaining to the relationship between business and society, including social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, among others, and draws from real-life case studies on social initiatives.

This groundbreaking collection of essays by leading economists examines different aspects of entrepreneurship and its relation to public policy. Entrepreneurship has been a subject of much recent discussion among academics and policymakers because of the belief that it invigorates the economy—producing greater productivity, more jobs, and higher economic growth. President George W. Bush promoted his economic plan by pointing to its encouragement of entrepreneurship. Yet, despite its importance, the topic of entrepreneurship is underrepresented in the economics literature. The contributors to Public Policy and the Economics of Entrepreneurship examine different aspects of entrepreneurship and its relation to public policy to help us reach a better understanding of the economic role of entrepreneurs. The contributors, all prominent economists, first consider what policies effectively encourage entrepreneurship, discussing a possible role for government in venture capital markets, the effect of the tax code's subsidy of health insurance for the self-employed, and the impact of banking deregulation on entrepreneurial activity. Two contributors then examine entrepreneurship in "unexpected places"—not small businesses, but large pharmaceutical firms and nonprofit organizations. The final essays explore the effect of entrepreneurship on inequality, looking at statistical evidence of upward mobility for self-employed blacks and Hispanics and discussing the effect on entrepreneurial activity of policies to reduce wealth inequality. The contributors hope, by offering a rigorous economic examination of entrepreneurship, to foster better public policies that encourage and support entrepreneurial activity.