Desperate entrepreneurs: no opportunities, no skills

Monika Mühlböck (), Julia-Rita Warmuth, Marian Holienka and Bernhard Kittel
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Monika Mühlböck: University of Vienna
Julia-Rita Warmuth: University of Vienna
Marian Holienka: Comenius University in Bratislava
Bernhard Kittel: University of Vienna

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2018, vol. 14, issue 4, No 9, 975-997

Abstract: Abstract Promoting entrepreneurship has become an important policy strategy in Europe in the hope to stimulate the crisis-shaken economy. In this paper, we caution against undue expectations. Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for 17 European countries, we find that a considerable proportion of the new entrepreneurs have started a business despite a negative perception of business opportunities as well as lack of confidence in their own entrepreneurial skills. This proportion has increased during the economic crisis, especially in those countries which were particularly affected by economic downturn and rising unemployment. We extend existing entrepreneurship theories to account for this phenomenon, which we call “nons-entrepreneurship”. Testing the hypotheses derived from our model, we find that the primary motivation for these people to turn to entrepreneurship is the lack of other options to enter the labour market during the economic crisis. Still, this sort of “desperate” entrepreneurship does not equal necessity based entrepreneurship, warranting further research.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Economic crisis; Entrepreneurial skills; Opportunities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11365-017-0472-5

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