Opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship: do linguistic structures matter?

Nabamita Dutta (), Russell S. Sobel (), Adam Stivers () and Thor Lienhard ()
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Nabamita Dutta: University of Wisconsin
Russell S. Sobel: Baker School of Business
Adam Stivers: University of Wisconsin
Thor Lienhard: University of Wisconsin

Small Business Economics, 2025, vol. 64, issue 4, No 17, 2012 pages

Abstract: Abstract A rapidly growing literature explores the link between linguistic structures and economic outcomes. The language a speaker uses systematically influences cognition, thinking, and thus behavior. It also influences the form and content of cultural information that is shared through time and generations. We examine how these linguistic structures influence entrepreneurship. Not all forms of entrepreneurship are equally conducive to, nor associated with, economic growth and prosperity. A distinction is often made between necessity entrepreneurship, which is a result of individuals being pushed into self-employment by adverse circumstances, and opportunity entrepreneurship in which individuals choose to pursue promising ideas. We find that countries with languages not dropping personal pronouns in their major spoken language, or those speaking a weak future time reference (FTR) language, have higher proportions of opportunity relative to necessity-driven entrepreneurs, and that this effect is stronger in countries with higher levels of economic freedom.

Keywords: Linguistic structures; Pronoun drop; Future time reference; Opportunity entrepreneurship; Necessity entrepreneurship; Economic freedom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E02 E6 L26 O1 O11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-024-00972-6

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