Knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation influencing employee venturing behaviours at the national level: the moderating role of national entrepreneurial values

Menglei Gu, Chengli Shu and David Urbano

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2024, vol. 36, issue 7-8, 1118-1144

Abstract: The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE) posits that knowledge created but under-exploited in incumbent firms endogenously generates entrepreneurial opportunities for employee venturing behaviours (EVBs), which occur when employees quit to start new businesses. Thus, at the national level the gap between knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation by all incumbent firms shapes the volume of knowledge employees can use to venture out. In addition, national entrepreneurial values, which include overall innovative, proactive, and risk-taking values in particular countries, may explain variations in entrepreneurial activities across countries. By analysing a multi-source dataset collected from 52 countries for a sample period that runs from 2011 through 2017, this study reveals that at the national level knowledge creation positively influences knowledge exploitation but with a diminishing marginal effect, while the latter negatively affects EVBs. Additionally, we find a U-shaped relationship between knowledge creation and EVBs on a national scale, and this U-shaped relationship is strengthened by national entrepreneurial values. This article is among the first to study EVBs at the national level and enriches the KSTE literature by specifying the differential roles of knowledge creation and knowledge exploitation and highlighting national entrepreneurial values as an important moderator in the national-level KSTE framework.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985626.2024.2310109 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:entreg:v:36:y:2024:i:7-8:p:1118-1144

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/TEPN20

DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2024.2310109

Access Statistics for this article

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development is currently edited by Professor Alistair Anderson

More articles in Entrepreneurship & Regional Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().