Entrepreneurial aspirations, motivations, and their drivers

J. Hessels, M.W. van Gelderen, A.R. Thurik

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Several drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations and entrepreneurial motivations are investigated using country-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the years 2005 and 2006. We estimate a two-equation model explaining aspirations using motivations and socioeconomic variables, and explaining motivations using socioeconomic variables. We find that countries with a higher incidence of increase-wealth-motivated entrepreneurs tend to have a higher prevalence of high-job-growth and export-oriented entrepreneurship and that a country's level of social security relates negatively to the prevalence of innovative, high-job-growth, and export-oriented entrepreneurship. We also find that the increase-wealth motive mediates the relationship between socioeconomic variables and entrepreneurial aspirations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)323-339
Number of pages17
JournalSmall Business Economics
Volume31
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Entrepreneurial aspirations, motivations, and their drivers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this