Entrepreneurial families and households

Gry Agnete Alsos (), Sara Carter () and Elisabet Ljunggren ()
Additional contact information
Gry Agnete Alsos: University of Nordland
Sara Carter: Strathclyde Business School
Elisabet Ljunggren: Nordland Research Institute

No 10, Research Papers from Enterprise Research Centre

Abstract: This paper considers the entrepreneur within the context of the family and the household. We explore how families and households interact with and influence business decisions, and give equal prominence to the role of family strategies as well as to business strategies in understanding the development of the family in business. Household and family are distinctive concepts that partly overlap; a focus on the household allows consideration of economic activities, work and residence, while a focus on the family is confined to issues such kinship and marriage relationships that bind together individuals. The paper explores the relationship between the household and the enterprise, drawing attention to the intricate relationship that exists between the two spheres. Although entrepreneurship researchers have rarely discussed the role of the household in business decisions, disciplines such as sociology and anthropology have provided valuable insights into the nature of household dynamics and kinship. These factors are known to have a profound influence on both the tangible and intangible resources available to entrepreneurial ventures. This paper addresses some of the omissions of the entrepreneurship subject domain by focusing attention on household dynamics, kinship relations and the role of the household in recognizing opportunities and providing resources to new and existing ventures.

Keywords: family entrepreneurship; households; portfolio businesses; rural and farm-based enterprise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 L25 L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2013-10-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ent and nep-sbm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:enr:rpaper:0010

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