Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Entrepreneurship in science'

This research will examine the literature, the context, and current policies intended to enhance entrepreneurship in Latin America. It will draw on examples from across the region, focusing on Chile in particular. It will also examine the strong emphasis on science and technology innovation in certain countries in Latin America. Because this is currently one of the primary features of entrepreneurship policy in the region, it is worth exploring the implications this trend has for development in Latin America and the impact it is having on the entrepreneurship policy goals of increasing productivity, resilience, and inclusive growth. The results of this analysis are concerning. By narrowly defining innovation, officials may be encouraging the development of enclave economies of limited benefit and diverting resources away from more inclusive policies. On the other hand, if aligned more closely with local business realities and needs, innovation policies could lead to inclusive and sustainable growth. It will conclude with specific policy recommendations that, with contextual adaptations, can be applied to enrich the environment for entrepreneurship across the region.

The disproportionately high unemployment figures for the youth highlight the importance of finding alternative ways of increasing youth participation in the economy. According to the Western Cape Youth Report there are four major factors that have been identified as having a significant influence on the entrepreneurial environment in South Africa, especially as this relates to the youth, namely education and training; social and cultural norms; access to finance and the regulatory environment. Recent data compilations show that many poor and non–poor people in many developing countries face a high degree of financial exclusion and high barrier in access to finance. Although access to finance is a perennial problem for all small businesses, the youth are particularly vulnerable to this limitation. Many extremely poor households operate their own businesses, but do so without ample means. A particularly pernicious problem is that the school system is not producing functionally literate students. For many years financial literacy has been neglected. There was also general agreement that people should be equipped with social skills, but financial literacy was not necessarily included as one of these skills. Many school–leavers do not have sufficient literacy, numeracy and livelihood skills to be able to participate actively in the economy. Pilot initiatives revealed that students often enter university with little knowledge of how to work out a weekly budget or manage money. Many of them in receipt of bursaries and other financial support soon run out of money and lead a hand–to–mouth existence. A comprehensive and well co–ordinated approach to youth entrepreneurship is needed to increase the chances of success for start–ups as well as the chances of existing businesses to progressing from “micro” to fully–fledged small and medium–sized entities. The main objective was to research the entrepreneurship competencies, skills and knowledge of the EMS teacher who will be instrumental in promoting entrepreneurship under the youth of the country. To meet the research objectives a qualitative approach was selected and a questionnaire was used as the survey instrument. A new questionnaire was developed to assess respondents’ perceptions of the importance of entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and training in teaching EMS. The responses received were analysed and assessed and the findings are embodied in the recommendations and proposals of this dissertation. This study is of interest to policy makers, educational institutions and schools as well as to the Department of Education. The results of the study are intended to encourage the Department of Education to make a serious effort to promote entrepreneurship competence, knowledge and skills of primary school teachers.
Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Political Science, 2006.
"Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 27, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: A, page: 2305. Adviser: Michael D. McGinnis.

This dissertation explores the link between Fulbe ethnicity and Fulbe control of the entrepreneurial sector in Guinea following the liberalization policies that were instituted after April 1984, when the country's socialist regime fell. The study is based on a mixed method approach that used interviews, focus group discussions, questionnaires and archival research. Although an abundant literature deals with ethnic entrepreneurs and their strategies of capital formation and in-group recruiting, insufficient attention has been paid to the impact of macro-level politico-economic factors on the emergence or demise of ethnic entrepreneurs. The rise of ethnic entrepreneurship is sometimes explained by reference to particular group's cultural traits or resources it harnesses in an attempt to further its business interests. Other explanations emphasize the presence of economic opportunities for a given ethnic group or historical processes which allowed that group to acquire the necessary knowledge to maintain a competitive edge over other ethnic groups. Finally, the emergence of ethnic entrepreneurs is often attributed to an ethnic group's control of economic resources especially capital or to its control of the political power which gives access to these resources. The impact of national institutional settings is viewed either as unproblematic or as insignificant in comparison with the factors outlined above. This dissertation attempts to correct this theoretical oversight or lacuna by linking political-economic conditions to socio-cultural conditions in Futa Djallon to show at the national level how the Fulbe (Pullo) established a monopoly over the commercial sector in Guinea against "all odds." A careful and detailed review of the history of the Fulbe, from their establishment on Guinean soil in the eighteenth century until the end of the socialist regime in 1984, reveals their relatively meager endowment with the capital, knowledge and economic opportunities thought to be the key prerequisites for the development of entrepreneurship. Fulbe economic, political and social history during the colonial period (1890s to 1958) and after Guinea proclaimed its independence from France, and their region's natural resources did not foster the achievement of these entrepreneurial prerequisites. Moreover, the Fulbe seriously lagged behind the Malinke in these categories on the eve of the country's independence in 1958. This dissertation analyzes the circumstances that helped the Fulbe close that gap and, eventually, to dominate the Guinean economic sector despite a political and economic environment that was not conducive to their emergence as the country's main economic operators. Although certain Fulbe cultural elements are isolated to illustrate the ethnic group's use of cultural features for entrepreneurial ends, the main thrust of this dissertation is to argue that the Fulbe economic monopoly in Guinea results from the unintended outcomes of national political and economic decisions that were taken during the socialist regime rather than from the Fulbe intrinsic cultural values and their managerial styles.

The value of entrepreneurship in catalysing economic and social development in developing economies is well-documented. Government SME financing programs in Botswana have helped increase access to capital for entrepreneurs, but high default rates on loans have held down overall performance. By interviewing decision-makers at government agencies providing SME financing programs, a qualitative assessment of the mechanisms used to regulate the screening and monitoring of loan-takers is rendered from an agency theory perspective. It is found that there are methods of raising effectiveness in government financing programs by introducing mechanisms to mitigate the adverse effects of agency costs found in the relationship between lender and borrower. These results provide new areas of research in the study of SME financing programs and help decision-makers recognize some of the available policy options to contribute economic and social improvement.

Systems engineering rigor has been used successfully in the aerospace and defense industries where the development cycles tend to be rather long. However, the practice of using a traditional waterfall, spiral or V-model systems engineering life cycle framework, in other industries brings into question their appropriateness when considering the relative speed of new product development in industrial manufacturing. The purpose of this research is to investigate the applicability of incorporating systems engineering principles in the industrial sector to determine whether there is a statistical association with the overall growth of diversified industrial firms. This research focuses on investigating three systems engineering life cycle approaches: incremental & iterative methods, lean enablers for systems engineering and agile systems engineering; using a semi-structured interviewing approach with subject matter experts from the Fortune 500 diversified industrial sector. The research reveals that there are weak statistical associations between the use of the incremental & iterative and lean systems engineering life cycle approaches when considering the financial growth of the diversified industrial sector. However, the research reveals that there is a strong statistical association between the financial growth of companies in the diversified industrial sector and the use of the agile systems engineering life cycle approach as well as other unique life cycle tools.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 30-39).
Under what circumstances can political entrepreneurs shape policy change? By relying upon the multiple streams framework, this research studies some of the factors that underpin decision-making in the public sector. Through a discussion of the process whereby Mexico became both the first developing country to permanently invite all international observers to monitor domestic human rights violations and the first country not undergoing a civil war to establish an Office of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the case debates the extent of maneuvering room and the strategies of political entrepreneurs. The study suggests political entrepreneurs can shape policy change without steadfast support from neither elected officials nor a favorable domestic political environment.
by Bruno Verdini Trejo.
S.M.

This thesis focuses on returnee entrepreneurs in a large industrial cluster, Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing, based on a combined quantitative and qualitative method. Using a hand-collected dataset of returnee entrepreneur-owned 353 SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and local entrepreneur-owned 358 SMEs from Zhongguancun Science Park, the author empirically investigates the role of returnee-firms in technology transfer and knowledge spillovers. The findings suggest returnee entrepreneurs play a significant role in technology transfer and act as a new channel for international knowledge spillovers. It also examines the relationship between the characteristics of returnees and their firms' performance in comparison with non-returnee firms. The results also show that returnee-firms have gained competitive advantage in high-tech industries and perform better than non-returnee firms. Based on eight case studies, the author also compares and contrasts differences and similarities in term of internationalisation process of these two types of firms. It is found that returnee entrepreneurs are the early adopters of internationalisation due to their international background and international networks.

The 21st century has seen a pervasive theme in STEM continue from the 20^th century: women do not pursue and persist in STEM careers at anywhere near the rate of men. Furthermore, STEM education has fallen short in preparing its students to enter the workforce as entrepreneurial knowledge workers prepared to innovate. As STEM and entrepreneurship receive unprecedented attention in scholarly circles, the first purpose of this mixed methods study at an independent day school was to examine the impact of a predominately female STEEM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship and mathematics) teaching staff on girls’ perceptions of STEEM. The second purpose of this study was to examine the impact of adding entrepreneurship to a STEM curriculum. The ultimate goals of this study were to inform local policy and practice.

Through teacher interviews, student focus groups, and a student survey, this study investigated the impact of female teachers and a recently established entrepreneurship-infused curriculum. The theory of action guiding this school is that female STEEM teachers and the inclusion of entrepreneurship skills and projects can improve girls’ perceptions of the STEM classroom, helping them to view STEM as less gender-oriented (i.e., male-oriented), and thereby make these classes feel more welcoming to girls. This is aimed at increasing their adoption of STEM majors in college and STEM careers after they graduate.

This study has four major findings. First, the predominantly female STEEM faculty appeared to build girls’ confidence in their STEEM classes. Second, the STEEM teachers use active learning and critical thinking to engage the girls in their classes. Third, the introduction of entrepreneurship appears to have helped increase girls’ interest in STEM. Last, even while discussing their efforts to increase girls’ engagement with STEM, many teachers celebrate gender blindness.

These findings raised a number issues that should be important educators and (especially) school leaders. These include the importance of high standards for girls in STEEM classes, the value of including real world experiences in STEEM lessons, the success of expanding STEM with a less traditionally academic area and the challenges that gender blindness can perpetuate for educators and their students.

This study aims to identify the challenges and opportunities of a small challenger company in a rigid and conservative high technology life science market. Strategies for finding a foothold, establish a position and creating a viable company is discussed. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through interviews, online survey and conjoint analysis which were used as market research tools. For an entrepreneurial firm in the life science market it is important to tend to their most valuable resource, the employees, and it is vital that they have an extensive knowledge of the market that they are active in. Strategic planning tools and templates aid in executing and implementing the proposed business model. Recommendations for a model case entrepreneurial company regarding continued market research, increasing sales and strategies for marketing are made. Included in the thesis is also a discussion of wall effects in HPLC and ways to counteract them.

I conducted an ethnography of internet entrepreneurs building startups in Mexico. I selected this case as representative of how people engage in technology innovation in middle-income countries. The number of communities of internet entrepreneurs building startups in these countries is exploding, empowered by social media, cloud technologies, and new software frameworks and methodologies. However, while entrepreneurs in the main centers of innovation, such as Silicon Valley, have crucial social, cultural, economic, and material resources to build high-impact startups, these resources are often not present in middle-income countries. I define those resources as innovation infrastructures, stable and dependable resources necessary to systematically conduct technology innovation activities. Entrepreneurs in middle-income countries have a double challenge of excelling at their startups, and creating innovation infrastructures. Mexican entrepreneurs worked as a community to build innovation infrastructures such as technical and entrepreneurship interest groups, learning and networking events, and diverse social media applications to connect with local and global networks of innovation. Combining these infrastructures, this community set off key learning processes to build a stronger startup culture in their country. I used a participant-observer approach, following entrepreneurs across a variety of online and offline locales. To understand the practice of building innovation infrastructures, I helped organize events and spaces to promote the startup culture in Mexico. My findings contribute to understanding technology innovation activities in middle-income countries, explaining how innovation infrastructures initiate key learning processes to create a strong startup culture. The understanding of these infrastructures provides a solid empirical foundation for designing technologies, initiatives, and policies to cultivate new innovation communities in new places and contexts.

Thesis (S.M. in Technology and Policy)-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-70).
Not-for-profit funding from wealthy individuals and their foundations is widely used to support science and engineering research within the university, but is not currently being used to fund the translation of those ideas towards greater impact. Entrepreneurship is a powerful engine for moving from idea to impact, but for-profit investments in early-stage companies fail to account for investors' charitable objectives and are not rewarded for social returns. Conversely, tax-shielded "charitable" funds are rarely used in for-profit technology companies regardless of their desirable social outcomes. As a result, there is often a limited amount of capital available to companies in areas such as energy, water and human disease because neither pure philanthropic nor pure profit motives sufficiently justify investment. Traditional explanations for funding gaps fail to recognize that the shortfall due to both the risk profile of potential investments, and the poor match between the social and private interests of "investors" and the types of vehicles that might allow a mix of philanthropic and financial motives to sit side-by-side. To address this challenge, we asked a simple question: What financial approaches and organizational structures can be deployed at the intersection of the non-profit and for-profit boundary to address the funding gaps in science and engineering commercialization? To explore this issue, we conducted interviews, reviewed legal texts and relevant literature, and compiled data from online sources. Our findings reveal a sophisticated set of tools that are historically under-used, but which have the potential to advance many areas of science and engineering that hold solutions to global issues, such as health, environment, water, and energy.
by Sarah J. Wood.
S.M.in Technology and Policy

Since the late eighties, an ever increasing number of American craft breweries have opened up across the United States. Although the industry has a relatively high success rate, there are still a number of craft breweries that fail. As craft brewing is an inherently location based business, the sites selected for new brewery locations are important to that business’s success. This research aims to examine how geodemographic information plays a role in strategic location decisions for craft breweries. By building a consumer profile for Phoenix craft brewery customers and comparing the results to the actual demographics of trade areas surrounding craft breweries, we begin to get a picture of geodemographics role in the site selection process. The research looks specifically at two locations; Bad Water Brewing Company and a site they are interested in acquiring. An analysis is performed to compare the geodemographic and behaviors of craft beer consumers in Phoenix, Arizona and those of the Bad Water Brewing location and their potential new site. This analysis ultimately results in intelligent business information related to location. The information compiled in this study can be used to make informed site selection decisions.

If you have an idea about applying a proven technology to improve the processes in a new area of society, what does it take to implement it in a way that it has wide impact and endures? This is a relevant question particularly now, at the dawn of the age of 'big data', as information and communication technologies are adopted in many areas to harness the ability to collect, retrieve and analyse large amounts of information, and be made available at the level of individual users. Extraordinarily powerful devices developed in recent years offer much promise, but as many examples, such as Betamax, WAP-technology, HD DVD and netbooks, show that even potent technologies may fail to gain predominance and survive. The concept of institutional entrepreneurship is a useful framework to analyse these complex issues as it embodies a comprehensive analytical perspective, combining attention to the institutional environment as well as to the efforts by interested and re-sourced actors. I use this concept to I investigate the efforts to introduce mobile technology into health care in England and Finland. I employ a distinct research strategy that avoids a retrospective bias, through the collection and analysis of qualitative data before known outcomes, from a wide range of technology, care, regulatory and intermediary organisations. I uncover some of the difficulties to technology adoption and develop arguments about the types of efforts and the impact of context at the early moment stage that contribute to the further development of the concept of institutional entrepreneurship.

This thesis investigated how communication in online crowdfunding influences monetary contributions to projects and project creators' behaviours in second projects. Underlying cues such as sustainability signals and monetary discussion affected contributions on Kickstarter, while research categorisation of projects on Experiment.com did not, whilst feedback from past project outcomes influenced project creators' willingness to create further projects on Kickstarter. Moreover, the feedback also caused changes in the information provided on subsequent projects.

Thesis (MPhil (Sociology and Social Anthropology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
This study focuses on academic entrepreneurship. It commences with a literature review on international trends in academic entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on incentive schemes used by selected countries to encourage innovativeness in academic institutions. Linkages between these incentives schemes and the improvement in the level of innovations made are demonstrated. This study will also show that in some countries, such as Brazil and Finland, these innovation incentives have led to the formation of start-up companies and an increased number of patents. The international scenario in academic entrepreneurship is linked to the South African scenario, as presented in the chapter on the science and technology landscape in South Africa. The main focus of the South African scenario will be on the National Innovation Competition (NIC), which is an instrument of the Innovation Fund specifically aimed at encouraging and providing innovation incentives at the level of higher education institutions. This research report also provide findings of interviews with different people within the academic entrepreneurship fraternity as well as an assessment of the differences between the winning and the non-winning business plans, which are used as a basis of providing incentives to the winners of the NIC. Recommendations are made in an attempt to provide solutions to the challenges encountered in the NIC at both institutional levels, as participants, and at government level, as funders of the NIC. This will hopefully improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the NIC. Although the NIC was only started in 2004, it is envisaged that areas of improvement can be identified at this early stage. This, coupled with the lessons learnt from the international literature review, will provide a mechanism that will make the NIC a powerful instrument to encourage innovation at HEI (Higher Education Institution) level. The conclusions drawn from this report include lessons learnt from the international literature review.

Les influències de les institucions informals sobre la família, les empreses familiars i els grups ètnics són immenses a causa de la integració d'aquestes organitzacions en el seu context local, que és on s'originen la majoria de les institucions informals. Malgrat això, quan les institucions funcionen de manera eficaç, sovint suposem que són les regles formals les que condueixen els comportaments dels actors. Tot i això, les normes informals subjacents poden complementar, substituir o acomodar les institucions formals, o també competir-hi. Els estudis previs sobre institucions informals estan dispersos i fragmentats, i presenten les institucions informals com a ambigües. Aquesta tesi aporta llum sobre les institucions informals que configuren la família, les empreses familiars i els grups ètnics d'un país en vies de desenvolupament per produir resultats emprenedors. Una revisió sistemàtica dels materials publicats és un punt de partida vital, ja que permet comprendre i conciliar els estudis existents, i subratllar àrees en les quals falta investigació. La revisió dels materials publicats va seguida de dues investigacions qualitatives. El primer estudi qualitatiu se centra en la religió i les tradicions —institucions informals substitutives— per entendre com transmeten trets familiars i pràctiques empresarials que fomenten o dificulten l'emprenedoria transgeneracional. El segon estudi qualitatiu explora el procés mitjançant el qual un grup ètnic s'ancora en un sistema d'aprenentatge informal —una institució informal en competència— per fomentar la creació de valor intergeneracional i, el que és més important, la propagació de l'emprenedoria. En fer-ho, aquest treball ofereix diverses contribucions que amplien la comprensió teòrica en els contextos de l'empresa familiar, l'emprenedoria i un grup ètnic en un país en vies de desenvolupament. Els seus descobriments poden orientar els professionals i els responsables polítics.
Las influencias de las instituciones informales en la familia, las empresas de gestión familiar y el grupo étnico son inmensas debido al arraigo de estas organizaciones dentro de su contexto local, que es donde se originan la mayoría de dichas instituciones informales. A pesar de ello, cuando estas instituciones funcionan de manera eficaz, solemos asumir que son las reglas formales las que impulsan el comportamiento de los distintos protagonistas. Sin embargo, las normas informales subyacentes pueden complementar, sustituir, acomodar o competir con las instituciones formales. Los estudios anteriores sobre las instituciones informales están dispersos y fragmentados, y presentan a las instituciones informales con un carácter ambiguo. Esta tesis arroja luz sobre las instituciones informales que dan forma a la familia, las empresas de gestión familiar y el grupo étnico en un país en desarrollo a fin de producir resultados empresariales. Una revisión sistemática de la literatura existente es un punto de partida fundamental, ya que permite comprender y conciliar los estudios previos y subrayar las áreas en las que es necesaria una mayor investigación. A la revisión de esta literatura le siguen dos trabajos de investigación cualitativa. El primer estudio cualitativo se centra en la religión y las tradiciones (instituciones informales sustitutivas), para comprender cómo infunden aspectos familiares y prácticas comerciales que fomentan o dificultan el espíritu empresarial transgeneracional. El segundo estudio cualitativo explora el proceso por el cual un grupo étnico queda anclado a un sistema de aprendizaje informal (una institución informal competitiva) para fomentar la creación de valor intergeneracional y, lo que es más importante, la propagación del espíritu empresarial. Gracias a ello, este trabajo ofrece diversas contribuciones que amplían la comprensión teórica en los contextos de las empresas de gestión familiar, el espíritu empresarial y un grupo étnico determinado en un país en desarrollo. Sus conclusiones pueden servir de guía a profesionales y legisladores.
The influences of informal institutions on the family, family businesses, and the ethnic group are immense due to these organizations' embeddedness within their local context, which is where most informal institutions originate. Despite that, when institutions function effectively, we often assume that it is the formal rules that drive actors' behaviors. Yet the underlying informal norms may complement, substitute, accommodate, or compete with formal institutions. Previous studies on informal institutions are scattered and fragmented, and present informal institutions as ambiguous. This thesis sheds light on the informal institutions that shape the family, family businesses, and the ethnic group in a developing country to yield entrepreneurial outcomes. A systematic literature review is a vital starting point as it allows for understanding and reconciliation of existing studies and underscoring areas where research is lacking. The literature review is followed by two qualitative research pieces. The first qualitative study focuses on religion and traditions—substitutive informal institutions—to understand how they imbue family features and business practices that foster or hinder transgenerational entrepreneurship. The second qualitative study explores the process through which an ethnic group anchors on an informal apprenticeship system—a competing informal institution—to foster intergenerational value creation and, more importantly, entrepreneurship propagation. By doing so, this work offers several contributions that extend theoretical understanding in the contexts of the family business, entrepreneurship, and an ethnic group in a developing country. Its findings can guide practitioners and policymakers.

O objetivo principal do trabalho foi analisar o surgimento de spin-offs acadêmicos, com foco específico naqueles que tiveram como origem as pesquisas desenvolvidas nas áreas das ciências naturais (com ênfase na física e na química), a fim de se compreender as semelhanças e as particularidades dessas empresas, tomando-as como um grupo idiossincrático dentro do conjunto de empresas nascentes de base tecnológica. Para tanto, através de uma abordagem exploratória qualitativa, foram realizados três estudos de caso em empresas nas áreas de química e física fundadas entre a década de 1990 e os dias atuais, criadas por pesquisadores graduados em instituições públicas de ensino superior do Estado de São Paulo, e que estão ou estiveram incubadas. Assim, foram realizadas análises do contexto ligado à ciência, à tecnologia e à inovação e da evolução da missão da Universidade, bem como das políticas públicas e das instituições ligadas à C,T&I no Brasil. Desse modo, foi possível elencar a importância das iniciativas de estímulo ao relacionamento Universidade-Empresa, à transferência/licenciamento de tecnologias e à criação de spin-offs, além da necessidade de estruturação dos NITs, das incubadoras e dos parques tecnológicos, enquanto instituições formais de fomento e suporte ao empreendedorismo no meio acadêmico. Para que esse contexto pudesse ser tratado em conjunto com o desenvolvimento fundamental da ciência, a revisão bibliográfica tratou das formas de produção do conhecimento, assim como dos modelos de estruturação da pesquisa acadêmica. Além disso, foi realizada uma exposição dos conceitos ligados ao empreendedorismo acadêmico, bem como das definições, modelos de desenvolvimento e fatores que impactam o processo de criação e desenvolvimento de spin-offs acadêmicos. Assim, através de estudos de múltiplos casos, foi possível concluir que existem particularidades ligadas ao empreendedor e à sua empresa, relativas ao seu processo de criação e desenvolvimento, à importância dos recursos, à constituição societária e formação da equipe, ao processo de desenvolvimento de produtos e à articulação do seu modelo de negócios, que impactam sobremaneira o seu crescimento. No contexto das ciências naturais, apesar da importância da geração de spin-offs (no processo de transferência do conhecimento da universidade ao mercado) e da notoriedade científica de pesquisadores acadêmicos e de grupos de pesquisa no Brasil, ainda são poucos os casos de empreendedores de sucesso. Esses casos são importantes no estímulo à carreira empreendedora entre os acadêmicos e profissionais dessas áreas, como exemplos que favorecerão à criação de uma cultura para geração de novas empresas de origem acadêmica nesse meio.
This thesis analyzes the emergence of academic spin-offs, with a specific focus on those derived from basic knowledge in the natural sciences (mainly Physics and Chemistry). The main interest was to understand the similarities and particularities of these companies within technology-based start-ups. An exploratory and qualitative approach was adopted, and three case studies were conducted in chemistry and physics incubated companies founded between 1990 and 2009, created by senior researchers in public institutions of higher education in the State of Sao Paulo. The context related to science, technology and innovation, the evolution of the University\'s mission, as well as public policies and institutions linked to S,T&I in Brazil were analyzed. It was possible to state the importance of initiatives to stimulate university-industry relationship, the transfer/licensing of technologies and the creation of spin-off companies. A need was also pointed for structuring OTTs, incubators and technology parks, as formal institutions to promote and support entrepreneurship in academia. The literature review addressed the forms of knowledge production, as well as models for structuring academic research. In addition, this review tried to explain the concepts related to academic entrepreneurship, as well as the definitions, development models and factors that affect the process of creation and development of academic spin-offs. Therefore, by performing the multiple case studies, it was possible to conclude that there are characteristics elated to the entrepreneur and to his company that greatly influence their growth. These characteristics are mainly related to their process of creation and development, the importance of resources, corporate formation and team formation, the product development process and the articulation of the business model. In the context of the natural sciences, despite the importance of the spin-off development (to transfer of knowledge from the university to the market) and the scientific reputation of some academic researchers and research groups in Brazil, there are few cases of entrepreneurs success. These cases are important to stimulate entrepreneurial initiatives among researchers and professionals in these areas, as examples that induce the creation of a culture for generation of new business in the midst of academic origin.

This dissertation consists of three essays investigating questions of politics and policy. The first essay proposes an index that assigns probabilities to all majority coalitions. This index takes as inputs the seat shares and policy positions of the parties represented in parliament. In addition to providing coalition probabilities, it has some desirable properties lacking from the commonly used concept of the minimum-connected winning coalition. In an empirical test, the proposed index slightly outperforms the predictions generated by this standard concept. Furthermore, the probabilities generated by the index are shown to be empirically meaningful. The second essay proposes a model of voter decision-making in proportional representation systems: ultra-rational strategic voters construct expectations of coalitions and policy outcomes based on expected seat distributions and attributed policy positions and vote to maximize their expected utility. The predictions of the model are examined using data from the Netherlands and successfully predict the voting behavior of significant numbers of voters. Nevertheless, other factors matter more than the strategic prediction. Three main take-aways follow: (1) At least to some extent, voters seem to take complex coalition considerations into account. (2) There is a need for large-scale qualitative studies about voter decision-making in proportional representation systems. (3) Narrowly defined strategic voting might matter less in proportional representation systems than in plurality systems. The third essay presents new data on effective corporate income tax rates in 85 countries in 2004. The data come from a survey, conducted jointly with the World Bank’s Doing Business unit and PricewaterhouseCoopers, of all taxes imposed on "the same" standardized mid-size domestic firm. In a cross-section of countries, the estimates of the effective corporate tax rate have a large adverse impact on aggregate investment, FDI, and entrepreneurial activity. Corporate tax rates are correlated with investment in manufacturing but not services, as well as with the size of the informal economy. The results are robust to the inclusion of many controls.

Considerable number of studies are produced to deal with one of the most important challenges of the 21th century, which is the triple challenge of: regenerating the life supporting services provided by the Earth system, achieving food and nutrition sovereignty that leaves no one behind, and ensuring that global food systems support socio-environmental justice. This triple challenge is intrinsically linked to the Gordian knot that characterizes present-day global agriculture, at once vital and threatening to human society. In the present study, this global Gordian knot is explored through the lens of the trajectories of a few dozen farming systems, all located in a micro-territory of Wallonia (Southern Belgium) at the heart of the old industrial Europe. The agroecosystems under study are all family farms, which are among the survivors of a socio-professional group that has shrunk dramatically in just a few decades. Our broad objective is to gain insight into the tenets of transition towards sustainable farming systems in Wallonia.An exploratory research phase contributes to set the scene of our 'core research'. The exploratory study shows that three types of discourses, and two opposite paradigms, split the conversation among Walloon stakeholders on the path to improve agriculture; moreover, it suggests that transition is mainly a matter of cognitive lock-in. Our core research builds upon these premises, while the 'Peasant Principle' (put forward by J.D. van der Ploeg) stands out as its main theoretical background. Our broad objective may therefore be reformulated as 'gaining insight into the tenets of repeasantization in Wallonia'. This is addressed through three research questions, namely: 'What makes a farming system more or less peasant?'; 'What is the link between farm survival strategies and the cognitive (un)locking process?'; and 'How to support repeasantization?'. Our approach is grounded into two deep-probing field studies. The first one is empirical, and essentially stems from a sample of 23 neighbouring farm families located in a homogeneous window of Wallonia, and whose trajectories have been explored through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The second field study is the in-depth review of what we term 'Farming Assessment Normal Science' (FANS), which refers to usual (i.e. mainstream) farm productivity assessment, with or without sustainability concerns, and encompassing both agronomic and economic farm productive performance. Following an abductive and interdisciplinary approach, we make the realities of encountered farm families dialoguing with a set of theories and disciplines all along the four chapters of the core research – this set includes the Peasant Principle, agricultural accounting, orthodox economics, economic history, (agro)ecology, heterodox economic schools, thermodynamics and psychodynamics of work.The core research begins with the first proposal framework to build a situated tool assessing farm 'peasantness degree' (PD), and framed by the Peasant Principle. The application of this framework to our Walloon case study results in a 'PD tool' specifically designed to assess the relative peasantness of farms under study. By translating the broad dimensions of the Peasant Principle into 168 very tangible situated indicators, the resulting PD tool provides a fine-grained insight on what makes a farm more or less peasant in Wallonia. Economic and agronomic productivity indicators, usually used to compare farms, had to be left out from our comparative analysis. The reflexive process inherent to the PD tool construction has thus raised the following question: 'Why usual (economic and agronomic) productivity indicators turn out to be unfit to compare farming styles?'. This emerging question is first addressed by showing that FANS is rooted into orthodox economics, meaning that, with or without sustainability concerns, usual assessment views farms through the 'Firm model', and thus relies on input-output analysis to assess farm agronomic and economic performance. Through the lenses of both, (i) the diverging realities and peasantness degrees of investigated Walloon families, and (ii) the nature of the farming process, five categories of issues affecting the validity of FANS are put forward. The first category is about practical issues, and the other categories relate to conceptual issues. The three first categories only relate to farm economic assessment, whereas the fourth and fifth categories relate to both, agronomic and economic farm productivity assessment.Altogether, these issues not solely evidence that usual productivity indicators and usual sustainability assessment provide misleading insights on farm performance, but that they provide 'bias-asymmetry' insights, that is: the more a farming style depletes the (re)productive capacity of its agroecosystem, the more its productive performance is overestimated; in contrast, the more a style cares to replenish the (re)productive capacity of its agroecosystem, the more its productive performance is underestimated. Hence we evidence that FANS tailored, and keeps sustaining, 'the productivity myth' and. As this mainstream science has (and continue to) shape(d) agricultural prescriptions and development, we also show that these are oriented towards the loss of agroecosystems' (re)productive capacity.While unveiling the productivity myth and its real-life implications, a framework drawing on the 'Flow-Fund model' (put forward by the heterodox economist N. Georgescu-Roegen) emerged as a sound alternative to assess farm productivity performance. Through the lens of the flow-fund balance, we rely on the distinctly different ways Walloon farmers manage their agroecosystem, and on the metabolic nature of the farming process, to empirically and theoretically demonstrate that: the more a farming style complies with the peasant mode, the more the farming process (or flow-fund balance) is managed with art, and coproduces negentropy; conversely, the less a farming style entails peasantness, the more the farming process is denatured, and the more entropy is by-produced. Thus, at the same time, a metabolic interpretation of the Peasant Principle is drawn up.From all these empirical and theoretical insights, the following question emerges: 'How do surviving farm families cope with decennia of prescriptions oriented towards the depletion of the (re)productive capacity of agroecosystems, and thus towards of the depletion of their own capacity to remain farmers?'. Dealing with this emerging question merges with one last aspect that needed to be addressed, namely the social phe- nomena of suffering, deactivation and suicide that undermine the modern farming world of Wallonia and beyond. Assuming that these social phenomena are closely tied, we focus on the root causes of social suffering among surviving farmers, and give the floor to the statements of encountered farm families. After highlighting strong identity markers that set Walloon farmers as a singular socio-profes-sional group, the sensitive issue of suffering is addressed through collective narratives of encountered farmers on :the post- WW2 mutation of the Walloon farming work environment towards a modern environment with increased and plural hostility. Then we propose a typology of the strategies, deployed by the investigated farmers of Piccard Wallonia, to survive such hostility. By articulating our peasantness framework and the 'psychodynamic model of work-related suffering' (put forward by Ch. Dejours), five types of survival strategies are described, and labelled according to their corresponding category of farmers: the new peasants, the TMCE-ists (i.e. conservation agriculture farmers), the racing strugglers, the lost strugglers and the near-deactivated. These insights on farmers' narratives into the plurality of the hostility, on the contrasting degrees to which it undermines farmers' psychosocial health, and on farm diverging strategies, altogether challenge the commonly held vision that economic hardship is the root cause of agricultural pro- pensity to suffering, deactivation and suicide. Instead these empirical insights verify our interpretative hypothesis, i.e. the mechanical link between farmers' suffering and their relation to prescriptions. The loss of peasantness indeed appears as a root cause of the ill-being of the modern farming world.To conclude, this work evidences that the productivity myth has given rise to the (miscalled) 'productivist' paradigm and to a system of prescriptions oriented towards the depletion of the (re)productive capacity of agroecosystems – in turn undermining the Earth system's (re)production capacity. The psychosocial health of farmers clearly is a key fund element, and its depletion appears as the ultimate bend of the vicious downward spiral fueled by the productivity myth. We furthermore conclude that the peasant mode of production stands for managing the farming process in a coherent and sustainable manner, whereas non- peasant (so-called entrepreneurial and capitalistic) modes incoherently and unsustainably denature the farming process. Hence 'completed' repeasantization appears as a negentropic process of fund replenishment, ensuring wealth coproduction at all scales – from the farm to the Earth system. 'Completed' de-peasantization (or industrialisation), for its part, appears as an entropic process of fund depletion, causing illth at all scales.On this basis, we suggest an alternative representation of agricultural modes and processes, which comes down a metabolic reconfiguration of the triangle proposed by J.D. van der Ploeg, and takes the form of a multidimensional continuum opposing two poles.The main lesson learned from this research thesis is that, to unravel the Gordian knot bound to modern agriculture, we need to break free from the productivity myth. In the face of today's challenges, the usual yet fallacious statement that 'losing peasantness may enhance farm productive performance and sustainability', is no longer be an option. To support the transition towards sustainable farming worlds, transformative support systems are needed, and such systems require to design and rely on indicators assessing the real performance of farms and agriculture. Therefore, as a perspective for further research, we propose the 'Farm Metabolism (FM) framework', i.e. a conceptual and analytical proposal that basically implies to rely on agroecosystem's flow-fund analysis. The metabolic (or biophysical) assessment framework sketched out here therefore paves the way to a strong sustainability assessment of farm productive performance. In turn, it could contribute to support the necessary repeasantization of 'modernized' farmers, for the well-being of farmers and human society as a whole.
Un nombre considérable d'études sont réalisées pour répondre à l'un des plus importants défis du 21ème siècle, à savoir le triple défi de parvenir à la souveraineté alimentaire et nutritionnelle de tous, de régénérer les services vitaux fournis par le système Terre, et de veiller à ce que les systèmes alimentaires globaux contribuent à la justice socio-environnementale pour tous. Ce triple défi est foncièrement lié au nœud gordien qui caractérise l'agriculture moderne :une activité vitale et menaçante à la fois pour la société humaine. Dans la présente étude, ce nœud gordien à l'échelle globale est exploré à travers le prisme des trajectoires de quelques dizaines de systèmes agricoles situés dans un micro-territoire de la Wallonie (Belgique du Sud), soit au cœur de la vieille Europe industrielle. Les agroécosystèmes étudiés sont tous des fermes familiales, et les fermiers rencontrés comptent parmis les survivants d'un groupe socioprofessionnel qui s'est considérablement réduit en quelques décennies seulement. Notre objectif général consiste à com- prendre les tenants et aboutissants de la transition vers des systèmes agricoles durables en Wallonie.Une phase de recherche exploratoire contribue à poser le contexte empirique du cœur de notre recherche. Cette étude exploratoire montre que trois types de discours, et deux paradigmes opposés, divisent la 'conversation' des acteurs wallons sur la manière d'améliorer l'agriculture; de plus, ce premier apercu empirique suggère que la transition est avant tout une question de verrou cognitif. Le cœur de notre recherche se fonde sur ces prémisses, et le 'Principe Paysan' (proposé par J.D. van der Ploeg) s'impose comme le cadre théorique principale. Notre objectif général peut dès lors être reformulé comme suit :'comprendre les tenants et aboutissants de la repaysannisation wallonne. Pour ce faire, trois questions de recherche sont posées :'En quoi un système agricole wallon est-il plus ou moins paysan qu'un autre ?', 'Quel est le lien entre les stratégies de survie des familles agricoles et le processus de (dé)verrouillage cognitif ?', et 'Comment favoriser le processus de repaysannisation ?'. Notre approche est fondée sur deux études de cas approfondies. La première est empirique, et concerne essentiellement un échantillon de 23 familles agricoles voisines, situées dans une fenêtre homogène de Wallonie ;leurs trajectoires ont été explorées par des entretiens semi-structurés et de l'observation participante. Notre deuxième étude de cas est un examen approfondi de ce que nous appelons la 'science normale de l'évaluation des fermes' (FANS, en anglais), c’est-à-dire l'évaluation scientifique usuelle de la productivité des fermes, dans le cadre ou non d'une évaluation de durabilité, et qui concerne à la fois la performance agronomique et économique des fermes. De par l'abductivité et l'interdisciplinarité qui caractérisent notre approche, nous faisons dialoguer les réalités des familles agricoles rencontrées avec un ensemble de théories et de disciplines tout au long des quatre chapitres qui forment le coeur de notre recherche – cet ensemble inclut le Principe Paysan, la comptabilité agricole, l'économie orthodoxe, l'histoire économique, l'(agro)écologie, des écoles économiques hétérodoxes, la thermodynamique et la psychodynamique du travail.Le cœur de la recherche débute avec la proposition d'une démarche analytique fondée sur le Principe Paysan, et visant à construire un outil comparatif du 'degré de paysanneté' (DP) de fermes. L'application de cette démarche donne lieu à un 'outil DP' adapté au contexte spécifique de notre étude de cas wallon. Cet outil traduit les dimensions générales du Pincipe Paysan en 168 indicateurs 'situés' très concrets, permettant ainsi de fournir un aperçu finement détaillé de ce qui rend une ferme wallonne plus ou moins paysanne qu'une autre. Les indicateurs de productivité agronomique et économique usuellement utilisés pour comparer les fermes, n'ont pas pu être inclus dans notre analyse comparative. Le processus réflexif inhérent à la construction de l'outil DP a ainsi soulevé la question suivante :'Pourquoi les indicateurs usuels de productivité agricole se sont-ils révélés inadaptés à la comparaison des styles agricoles ?'.Cette question émergeante est d'abord abordée en montrant que FANS est ancré dans l'économie orthodoxe. Cela implique que la manière usuelle d'évaluer les fermes – qu'il s'agisse ou non d'une évaluation de durabilité – utilise le 'modèle de la Firme' et, dès lors, se fonde sur des analyses intrants-extrants pour comparer les performances agronomiques et économiques des fermes et de l'agriculture. A travers les prismes, (i) des réalités et des degrés de paysanneté contrastés des familles agricoles enquêtées et (ii) de la nature du processus agricole, nous mettons en évidence cinq catégories de problèmes qui contestent la validité de FANS. La première catégorie se rapporte à des problèmes pratiques, et les quatre suivantes soulèvent des problèmes conceptuels. Non seulement l'ensemble de ces problèmes démontre que les indicateurs usuels de productivité (économique et agronomique) agricole, et les évaluations usuelles de durabilité agricole, donnent lieu à des arguments scientifiques erronés. Mais de plus, il est démontré que ces arguments comportent le biais-asymmétrique suivant :au plus un style agricole épuise la capacité (re)productive de l'agroécosystème, au plus sa performance productive est sur-estimée ;au contraire, au plus un style agricole veille à régénérer la capacité (re)productive de l'agroécosystème, au plus sa performance productive est sous-estimée. Nous montrons ainsi que FANS a conçu, et continue à entretenir, le 'mythe de la productivité'. Or ce mythe a façonné les prescriptions et le développement agricoles qui, par conséquent, sont orientés vers la perte de la capacité (re)productive des agroécosystèmes.Parallèlement à la mise en lumière du mythe de la productivité et de ses implications réelles, un cadre s'inspirant du 'modèle Flow-Fund' (formalisé par N. Georgescu-Roegen) laisse entrevoir une alternative prometteuse pour évaluer la productivité (agronomique et économique) réelle des fermes. A travers le prisme de la balance flow-fund, nous nous fondons sur les manières distinctement différentes dont les fermiers wallons gèrent leur agroécosystème, et sur la nature métabolique du processus agricole, pour démontrer empiriquement et théoriquement l'argument suivant :au plus un style agricole est proche du mode paysan, au plus le processus agricole (ou la balance flow-fund) est géré(e) avec art et co-produit de la néguentropie ;à l'inverse, au moins le style est paysan, au plus le processus agricole est dénaturé et au plus de l'entropie est coproduite. Ainsi, dans le même temps, nous établissons une interprétation métabolique du Principe Paysan.De tous ces constats empiriques et théoriques, la question suivante émerge :'Comment les familles agricoles qui ont survécu font-elles face aux décennies de prescriptions orientées vers l'épuisement de la capacité (re)productive de leurs agroécosystèmes, et donc vers l'épuisement de leur capacité à demeurer fermiers ?'. Cette question rejoint un dernier aspect qu'il était nécessaire d'aborder, à savoir les phénomènes sociaux de souffrance, de désactivation et de suicide qui minent le monde agricole moderne de Wallonie et d'ailleurs. Partant du postulat que ces phénomènes sociaux sont étroitement liés, nous nous concentrons sur les causes profondes de la souffrance sociale des fermiers subsistants, en veillant tout particulèrement à laisser la parole aux familles et fermiers que nous avons côtoyés. Nous commençons par souligner des marqueurs identitaires forts qui montrent que les agriculteurs wallons, au delà de leur hétérogénéité, forment un groupe socio-professionnel singulier. La question épineuse de la souffrance est abordée à travers le récit collectif des fermiers sur la mutation d'après-guerre, de l'environnement de travail agricole vers un environnement moderne caractérisé par une hostilité accrue et plurielle. Nous proposons alors une typologie des stratégies, déployées par les fermiers enquêtés de Wallonie picarde, pour subsister face à une telle hostilité. L'exercice typologique se fonde sur l'articulation de notre cadre de paysanneté et sur le 'modèle dynamique de la souffrance psychique au travail' (proposé par Ch. Dejours), mettant en évidence cinq types de stratégies de survie. Celles-ci sont désignées par la catégorie de fermiers qui leur est associée :les nouveaux paysans, les TMCE-istes (soit les fermiers en agriculture de conservation), les fonceurs à leur perte, et les désorientés. Cet aperçu empirique sur des récits et des stratégies de fermiers, réfute la vision communément véhiculée selon laquelle les difficultés économiques sont la cause profonde de la propension agricole à la souffrance, à la désactivation et au suicide. En revanche, cet aperçu confirme notre hypothèse interprétative, à savoir :l'existence d'un lien mécanique entre souffrance des fermiers et leur rapport aux prescriptions. La perte de paysanneté apparaît en effet comme une cause profonde du mal-être du monde agricole moderne. Pour conclure, ce travail démontre que le mythe de la productivité a engendré le paradigme (appelé à tort) 'productiviste' et le système de prescriptions agricoles qui dominent le monde agricole et l'orientent vers l'érosion de la capacité reproductive des agroécosystèmes – contribuant ainsi à l'érosion de la capacité reproductive du système Terre. La santé psychosociale des fermiers émerge clairement comme un des élément-clé du fund des agroécosystèmes, et son érosion apparaît comme le stade ultime de la spirale délétère alimentée par le mythe de la productivité. Nous parvenons également à la conclusion que le mode de production paysan signifie gérer le processus agricole de manière cohérente et durable; les modes non paysans (dits entrepreneuriaux et capitalistiques) eux dénaturent le processus agricole de manière incohérente et non durable. La repaysannisation 'aboutie' apparaît ainsi comme un processus néguentropique, producteur de richesse à tous les niveaux – du système agricole à celui de la Terre. La dépaysannisation (ou industrialisation) avancée des agroécosystèmes apparaît comme un processus entropique d'épuisement du fund, hautement producteur de coûts et de maux ('illth' en anglais) à tous les niveaux. C'est sur cette base, que nous proposons une représentation alternative des modes et processus agricoles. Essentiellement, cette représentation est une reconfiguration métabolique du triangle proposé par J.D. van der Ploeg, et se présent sous la forme d'un continuum multidimensionnel opposant deux pôles.La principale leçon tirée de cette thèse se résume ainsi :pour trancher le nœud gordien de l'agriculture moderne, il faut rompre avec le mythe de la productivité. Face aux défis actuels, l'argument usuel selon lequel 'la perte de paysanneté permet d'accroître les performances productives et la durabilité des fermes', n'est plus une option. Pour favoriser la transition vers des mondes agricoles durables, des systèmes de soutien transformateurs sont nécessaires, et ces systèmes requièrent de s'appuyer sur des indicateurs aptes à évaluer la performance réelle des styles agricoles et de l'agriculture. Nous proposons, en tant que perspective de recherche, le cadre 'Métabolisme de Ferme'. Cette proposition conceptuelle et analytique implique de se fonder sur des analyses flow-fund au niveau des agroécosystèmes, ouvrant ainsi la voie à une évaluation de la performance productive réelle des styles agricoles, et ce dans une perspective de durabilité forte. Le cadre 'Métabolisme de Ferme' pourrait dès lors contribuer à soutenir la repaysannisation des agroécosystèmes 'modernisés', nécessaire au bien-être des fermiers et à celui de l'ensemble de la société humaine.
Doctorat en Sciences agronomiques et ingénierie biologique
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Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais
O presente Trabalho Final de Mestrado (TFM), sob a forma de Relatório de Estágio, tem por base um estágio curricular realizado no Parque do Alentejo de Ciência e Tecnologia (PACT), em Évora, exercido no âmbito do Mestrado em Ciências Empresariais do Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG). É inicialmente apresentado um Enquadramento Teórico, que começa com uma revisão de literatura sobre Parques de Ciência e Tecnologia (PCT), e de seguida é abordado o tema da sustentabilidade das organizações em geral, até aos PCT em particular. Os PCT são considerados um ingrediente essencial do sistema nacional de inovação em muitos países do mundo, tendo grande influência no desenvolvimento social e económico das regiões onde se inserem e, consequentemente, do país e do mundo. No entanto, nem todos conseguem alcançar o sucesso e não há uniformização quanto aos fatores que devem avaliar o seu desempenho. O segundo capítulo é relativo ao PACT, contendo o seu propósito, visão, missão, e efetuada uma abordagem à sua sustentabilidade. No terceiro capítulo são referidas as atividades associadas ao estágio, assim como a sua relação com a formação obtida no mestrado. Com base na experiência real vivida no PACT e tendo em conta o espírito crítico adquirido, foi desenvolvido e proposto um Modelo de Sustentabilidade para PCT. Assente nesse modelo, foi realizado um estudo sobre a sustentabilidade dos PCT a quatro PCT portugueses e um espanhol, onde se analisou a expressão das variáveis-chave da sustentabilidade e o perfil de sustentabilidade dos diferentes PCT.
This Master's Final Work (MFW), in the form of an Internship Report, is based on a curricular internship held at the Science and Technology Park of Alentejo (PACT), in Évora, performed under the Master's degree in Business Sciences of the Lisbon School of Economics & Management (ISEG). Initially a theoretical framework is presented, starting with a literature review on Science and Technology Parks (STP), and then it is approached the theme of sustainability of organizations in general, concluding with STP in particular. STPs are considered an essential ingredient of the national innovation system in many countries of the world, having a great influence on the social and economic development of the regions where it operates and, consequently, in the country and in the world. However, not everyone can achieve success and there is no standardization on the factors that should evaluate their performance. The second chapter is about PACT, containing its objective, vision, mission and an approach to its sustainability. In the third chapter, the activities related to the internship are referred, as well as their relation with the academic training obtained in the Master's degree. Based on the actual experience of PACT and taking into account the critical spirit acquired, a sustainability model for STP was developed and proposed. Based on this model, a study was conducted on the sustainability of four Portuguese and one Spanish STP's, where the relevance of the sustainability key-variables was analyzed as well as the sustainability profile of the different STPs.
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This dissertation presents a multilevel model of national-level factors and their impact on the organizational-level characteristics of social enterprises and their innovations. This study builds on the foundations of two theoretical frameworks: the national systems of innovation, which recognizes economic competitiveness to be a product of several interrelated institutions (e.g. financial, educational, cultural, historical) and where organizational-level innovation drives country level competitiveness; and the comparative social enterprise framework, which contends that national-level institutions (e.g., economic competitiveness, models of civil society) drive the size and shape of the social enterprise sector of a country. Data for this study were collected from multiple secondary global datasets representing 54 countries across seven world regions. Research questions and hypotheses are examined using ordinal and logistic hierarchical generalized linear modeling, two analytical techniques capable of explaining variation at one level (i.e., organizations) as a consequence of factors at another level of analysis (i.e., countries) for non-normally distributed dependent variables. Findings indicate that economic competitiveness, welfare spending, culture and quality of life significantly impact the odds of a business being a social enterprise. Fewer significant relationships were found social enterprise innovations. Conclusions and policy implications are discussed in light of data limitations and the current state of the field.

The Peruvian society is one of the most unequal in the world and despite the growing economy the centralised political tradition impedes the trickling-down of wealth down to the people who need it the most. In Arequipa in southern Peru an initiative called the Programme for Rural Development (PRD) was commenced in the beginning of 2007 with the purpose of consolidating democracy and promote economic development, foremost for women. The programme was developed by Svalorna together with their cooperation organisations at location in Arequipa.

This investigation is both descriptive and explorative with a purpose of both describing the current economic and social situation in these departments as well as in a more normative manner explore the possible ways to go forward and issues that need further attention in regard to the PRD. The investigation has been realised as a qualitative field based study with the aim of emphasising on the views and opinions of the women in the different departments with the purpose of putting the women at a grass root level in focus. Therefore the methodological approach which permeates the entire study is a ‘bottom-up’ implementation analysis. The process of collecting information has implied field studies, where observation, interviews and interaction has been used as techniques, as well as a vast collection of background to the current socioeconomic situation which also has been necessary.

Conducting this investigation has lead to many interesting and useful conclusions regarding the contemporary and future sustentation situation for women and youth in the rural parts of Arequipa. This study will emphasise the importance of invisible actions within rural development, such as strengthening the common identity and objectives, considered to be the foundation to organising, both in regard to democratic participation as well as economic activities. In regard to entrepreneurship or the initiation of small scale businesses, components such as involvement from the rest of the family, sharing of skills and experiences within the group, access to capital, follow up and evaluation, are vital. Overall, the inhabitants need to participate in their own development process and receive assistance from a holistic programme that takes in consideration all elements in the life of the women.

Klyftorna i det peruanska samhället är några av de största i världen och trots att ekonomin för tillfället växer så att det knakar, så hindrar den starka traditionen av politisk centralisering att överskottet kommer alla människor tillgodo. I staden Arequipa i södra Peru inleddes i början av 2007 Programmet för landsbygdsutveckling (PRD) med syfte att förstärka demokratiska processer och främja ekonomisk utveckling, framförallt för kvinnor. Programmet utvecklades av Svalorna tillsammans med deras samarbetsorganisationer på plats i Arequipa.

Denna undersökning är både deskriptiv och explorativ. Den har som syfte att både beskriva den nuvarande ekonomiska och sociala situationen i de aktuella områdena kring Arequipa samt att mer normativt beskriva möjliga vägar framåt och problem som behöver ytterligare uppmärksamhet från PRD. Studien genomfördes genom en kvalitativ fältstudie med målet att vara lyhörd för, samt främhäva, kvinnornas egna åsikter och synpunkter som grund för resultat och analysdel. Detta för att sätta kvinnan på gräsrotsnivå i fokus och därav har det övergripande metodiska angreppssättet bestått av en botten-upp implementationsanalys. Insamlingsprocessen av information har inneburit både en fältstudie där observationer, intervjuer och interaktioner har använts som tekniker, men också en omfattande litteraturstudie har varit nödvändig. Detta för att erhålla bakgrundsmaterial till den nuvarande socioekonomiska situationen i landet.

Genomförandet av denna studie har inneburit många intressanta och användbara slutsatser vad gäller den nuvarande och framtida försörjningssituationen för kvinnor och ungdomar på landsbygden i Arequipa. Undersökningen betonar betydelsen av osynliga handlingar inom landsbygdsutvecklingen, så som stärkandet av den gemensamma identiteten och sammanställandet av gemensamma mål att sträva efter, både gällande demokratisk deltagande och ekonomiska aktiviteter. Vad gäller entreprenörskap och uppstartandet av småskaliga affärsverksamheter så är komponenter som engagemang från resten av familjen, delandet av kunskaper och erfarenheter inom gruppen, tillgång till kapital, uppföljning och utvärdering helt avgörande för projektets framgång. För att konkludera så behöver invånarna delta i sin egen utvecklingsprocess och delta med assistens från ett holistiskt sammansatt program som tar alla delar av kvinnornas liv i betraktande.

Thesis (Master of Consumer Science)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years unemployment figures in South Africa have reached alarming proportions. Many people do not have any form of income, and many others rely on irregular incomes from seasonal work. Education of adults has been highlighted as a possibility for teaching people various skills, which they could apply to generate an income for themselves. This research was conducted by following a participatory action research method to determine whether a nonformal adult education programme would assist individuals in generating an income. The literature review to support the research conducted included a discussion on poverty, rural areas and their development, and the relevance of entrepreneurial development for these areas. From here, the focus of the literature review moved to that of adult education as applied in training programmes. Participatory Action Research (PAR) and its role in a nonformal adult education programme is discussed, followed by a discussion of empowerment. The monitoring and evaluation of these programmes are also described. The Development and Advancement of Rural Entrepreneurship (DARE) is a programme that was launched in 2000 by the Department of Consumer Science: Foods, Clothing, Housing at the University of Stellenbosch. The main focus of this programme is the assistance given to rural communities to assist them in addressing the problem of unemployment and poverty, by providing support and training to potential local entrepreneurs. The rural town of Montagu was identified to conduct a nonformal adult education programme, focusing on skills training and entrepreneurial development of interested individuals in the community. The research period lasted 14 months. The programme itself consisted of different projects that concentrated on skills training suitable for income generation. People from the community were invited to attend the programme, making all participation voluntary. A PAR approach to present training skills was followed. Each PAR cycle consisted of four stages, namely planning, action, observation, reflection, as well as the revised plan which forms the first phase of the next plan. This approach ensures maximum involvement of participants. Empowerment levels of participants were measured using a standardised questionnaire with a pre- and post- test design. One of the PAR cycles included a five-day business course. Different aspects of entrepreneurship were addressed during the programme and eventually all the skills were combined and implemented to assist in the generation of income. Data of the empowerment levels of participants, and general information on the participants and their evaluation of the programme are documented as case studies. This data was also used to evaluate the success of the programme. The analysis of the data clearly shows that there was a need for skills development and entrepreneurial development in this rural area. Participants were eager to take part in the programme and to apply their skills in the market place where they displayed the skills they have acquired. Those participants who completed the programme all demonstrated an increase in their empowerment levels, the most significant increase on micro level. The research results indicated that participants were able to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the programme. However, four months after the completion of the programme none of them were involved in income-generation ventures. Despite the fact that the need for training existed in this rural area, sustainability was problematic once the facilitator withdrew. It is therefore recommended that novice entrepreneurs should have long-term guidance and emotional support in order to reach independence eventually.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die werkloosheid syfer in Suid-Afrika het die afgelope paar jaar onrusbarend toegeneem. 'n Groot aantal mense het geen vorm van inkomste nie, en baie maak staat op die inkomste wat hulle uit seisoenwerk genereer. Opleiding van volwassenes is aangedui as 'n wyse waarop mense 'n verskeidenheid vaardighede kan aanleer wat hulle dan kan toepas om sodoende vir hulself 'n inkomste te genereer. Hierdie navorsing is onderneem om te bepaal of 'n nieformele opleidingsprogram waar 'n deelnemende aksienavorsingsmetode (DAN) gevolg is, individue sal kan help om 'n inkomste te genereer. Die literatuuroorsig wat die navorsing onderskryf, sluit 'n bespreking in van armoede, landelike areas en die ontwikkeling daarvan asook van die relevansie van entrepreneuriese ontwikkeling in hierdie areas. Die fokus van die literatuur verskuif dan na volwasse onderwys, soos toegepas in opleidings programme. Daarna word deelnemende aksienavorsing (DAN) en die rol daarvan in programme in nieformele onderwys vir volwassenes bespreek. Dit word gevolg deur 'n bespreking van bemagtiging. Laastens word monitering en evaluering van programme bespreek. Die Development and Advancement of Rural Enterprises (DARE) Program is deur die Universiteit van Stellenbosch, Departement Verbruikerswetenskap: Voedsel, Kleding, Behuising in 2000 geloods. Die fokus van die program is om bystand aan landelike gemeenskappe ten opsigte van die hantering van werkloosheid en armoede aan te spreek. Die landelike dorp Montagu, is geïdentifiseer as 'n area om 'n nieformele onderwysprogram vir volwassenes wat fokus op vaardigheidsopleiding en entrepreneuriese ontwikkeling van belangstellende individue in die gemeenskap, aan te bied. Mense van die gemeenskap is uitgenooi om vrywillig aan die program deel te neem. Die navorsingsperiode het oor 14 maande gestrek. Die program self het bestaan uit verskillende projekte wat op opleidingsvaardighede geskik om 'n inkomste te genereer, fokus. 'n Deelnemende aksienavorsingsmetode is gevolg om opleidingsvaardighede aan te bied. Elke DAN-siklus het uit vier fases bestaan, naamlik beplanning, aksie, observasie en besinning. 'n Hersieningsplan het deel uitgemaak van die eerste fase van die volgende siklus. Hierdie benadering het maksimum betrokkenheid deur deelnemers verseker. Tydens een van die DAN siklusse, is deelnemers se bemagtingingsvlakke gemeet deur gebruik te maak van 'n gestandaardiseerde vraelys met 'n voor- en ná-toets ontwerp. Een van die DAN-siklusse het uit 'n vyf-dag sakekursus bestaan. Verskillende aspekte van entrepreneurskap is tydens die program aangespreek en ten slotte is alle vaardighede saamgevoeg en geïmplementeer om die generering van inkomste aan te moedig. Gevallestudies is gebruik om deelnemers se bemagtigingsvlakke, algemene inligting oor die deelnemers en die deelnemers se evaluering van die program aan te teken. Hierdie data is ook gebruik om die sukses van die program te evalueer. Die data analise wys uitdruklik dat daar 'n behoefte was aan die ontwikkeling van vaardighede en entrepreneuriese ontwikkeling in hierdie landelike gebied. Deelnemers was gretig om aan die program deel te neem en om vaardighede wat aangeleer is, toe te pas op die ope mark. Die deelnemers wat die program voltooi het, het almal 'n verbetering ten opsigte van hulle vlakke van bemagtiging getoon, met die grootste verbetering op die mikrovlak. Die navorsingsresultate bevestig dat die deelnemers hulle vaardighede en kennis wat in die program verwerf is, kon toepas. Nogtans was geeneen van die deelnemers wat die program voltooi het, vier maande ná die afloop van die program besig om 'n inkomste te genereer nie. AI was daar 'n behoefte aan opleiding in hierdie landelike area geidentifiseer, was daar, nadat die fasiliteerder onttrek het, geen volhoubaarheid van die program nie. Daar word dus aanbeveel dat opkomende entrepreneurs langtermynondersteuning sal geniet wat uiteindelik tot hul onafhanklikheid sal lei.

The aim of this study is to examine explanations for why Swedish local political parties are formed. This is done by using a statistical method with a focus on first person explanations, whereas previous research either has focused on third person explanations or conducted small scale studies. Several perspectives and explanations are found in the previous literature, around which a total of seven hypotheses are constructed. To test the hypotheses, a survey is constructed and data is collected from a total of 63 founders, representing 44 of the 62 local parties that received mandates in a municipal council for the first time in either 2014 or 2018. Results indicate that difficulty to influence the established parties, disappointment aimed towards the established parties as well as a lack of attention given to topics perceived as important are all significant factors when making the decision to form a party. Contrary to previous research, factors such as anger and a desire for revenge are not found to affect the decision to form a party. Furthermore, a potential explanation for why the diffusion effects that have been documented in previous research exist, namely rational imitation, finds some support in this study. In conclusion, it is argued that the disparity within the previous research and between previous research and this study, along with theoretical shortcomings in some theoretical explanations, shows that the study of why local political parties emerge is in its infancy and that both theoretical explanations and empirical analyses could use further development.

Інноваційний потенціал України не використовується повною мірою. Як зазначається у Щорічному Посланні Президента України до Верховної Ради України «Про внутрішнє та зовнішнє становище України в 2016 році», «…в Україні зберігаються можливості для створення технологічних конкурентних переваг у низці сфер економіки». Виконання цього завдання насамперед забезпечується за допомогою поліпшення інноваційної інфраструктури. З огляду на це, дослідження особливостей розвитку інноваційної інфраструктури в Україні є актуальним і своєчасним.

Recognizing the importance of innovation, we see that entrepreneurship and its supporting ecosystem contributes to increased prosperity in society. We also understand that the entrepreneurial phenomenon increases in efficiency through internationalization. Within the international context, knowledge transfer can be complex and requires people of multicultural background for successful interpretation. Demanding abilities to code and decode the transferred knowledge and integrate it into practices, interactions and learning for successfully creating new knowledge as a result. Our purpose for this research was to emphasize and give clarity of the process from initiatives to internationalization to successfully transferring knowledge. Being master students in an entrepreneurial program and working with related projects in our worklife, we were accustomed to- and possessed necessary background information for the topic. This gave us abilities to contact and form interviews for various science and technology parks (STP). We were motivated to collect data through a qualitative study, interviewing STPs with practical insight measuring selected theories presented in our literature review. Our findings correlate the selected theories, and give impressions that networking platforms provided by government, universities and international organizations contribute significantly in connecting STPs to international players. We also record that the government’s position is crucial in providing infrastructure and financial support to STPs. Further the challenge of knowledge transfer is positively related to complementary interest and trust, which is better resolved through awareness of multicultural networks. Further research can be recommended to investigate the objectives of institutions in an entrepreneurial ecosystem, between and in relation to the tenants. For direct understanding of international activities, we would also like to propose a research measuring science and technology parks’ engagement for internationalization and the financial results of tenants within the same time period.

Despite some understanding within the development literature about innovation in extreme contexts marked by challenges of institutional voids and resource scarcity, there exists little knowledge within organization theory and strategic management. To extend this understanding, I connect innovation in extreme contexts with research on social and purposeful innovation. But while the literature attributes social innovation to social entrepreneurs, we know little about how social entrepreneurs themselves view innovation. Questions that arise: How do social entrepreneurs conceptualize innovation broadly and specifically under extreme contexts marked by institutional voids and resource scarcity? I explore these questions using qualitative, descriptive and analytical methods by studying two communities of globally networked and formally recognized social entrepreneurs. Analysis is at meso level of innovation and value chains but observations are at micro level through document analysis, interviews, and observations. I reveal perceptions by social entrepreneurs on conceptual drivers, determinants and key features of innovation. The findings help organizational theorists to frame models of innovation to understand innovation among social entrepreneurs broadly and in extreme contexts. In contrast to social innovation presented in current literature, I find innovation among social entrepreneurs is viewed as a disparate range of understandings that stem from varied motivations, means and outcomes related to social concerns as well as user, efficiency, and challenge concerns. I further find that social entrepreneurs turn to a mix of technology, social, and institutional innovations to deal with, make use of, or overcome constraints. The varied concerns and approaches to innovation can be condensed using the construct of 'frugal innovation' which helps provide some cohesion to the seemingly disparate notions of innovation among social entrepreneurs. I build propositions from the findings and suggest models of innovation that help develop a theory of frugal innovation with implications and lessons relevant for theory, practice, policy and future research.

AbstractTitel: Entreprenörskap i fritidshem.Författare: Damian, Anca & Falih, Fatma (2014). Syftet med vår studie var att öka förståelsen för ett diffust begrepp som entreprenörskap i fritidshemmet. Detta gjorde vi genom att undersöka fritidspedagogers tolkningar av vad entreprenörskap innebär för deras arbete och för elevers lärande och utveckling i fritidshemmet. Vårt arbete utgår från tre frågeställningar: Hur tolkar fritidspedagoger uppdraget kring entreprenörskap i fritidshemmet som införts i Läroplanen 2011? Hur talar fritidspedagoger om att de implementerar entreprenörskap i fritidshemmets verksamhet för att lyckas med detta uppdrag? Vilka fördelar respektive nackdelar ser fritidspedagoger med detta arbetssätt? För att besvara dessa frågor har vi valt att utföra kvalitativa intervjuer som metod för vår undersökning. Vår undersökningsgrupp omfattas av 11 verksamma fritidspedagoger i fem olika fritidshem i Malmö stad. Undersökningsresultatet visar att begreppet entreprenörskap enbart är ett nytt begrepp som formulerats i samband med Läroplanen, Lgr 11 och att det inte är ett nytt fenomen i fritidspedagogernas uppdrag. Samtidigt associeras begreppet framförallt med företagsamhet men ändrar betydelse i utbildningssyfte. Med andra ord är begreppet tolkat av de flesta fritidspedagogerna som ett förhållningssätt som bidrar till att de arbetar problembaserat för att öka barns delaktighet och inflytande. Ansvar och kreativitet har lyfts upp som centrala begrepp för det entreprenöriella lärandet som förväntas kunna öka barns framtida möjligheter till självförsörjning och självständighet. Slutligen har en del fritidspedagoger ställt sig kritiska gentemot vinstdrivande aktiviteter, samtidigt som en del ansett att vinstdrivande aktiviteter som görs i gott syfte kan vara givande för barns fortsatta kreativitet och nyfikenhet.Nyckelord: Entreprenörskap, fritidshem, lärande.

Entrepreneurship today is an attractive option for future graduates due to various perks and benefits. However, there are also challenges and disadvantages that come with being an entrepreneur. This study is aimed at investigating the motivating factors and challenges that student entrepreneurs are facing when starting their own business in Sweden. For this study, a qualitative approach is chosen, and semi-structured interviews are used on six student entrepreneurs that live in Sweden. The results are analyzed by using thematic analysis and the study concluded that student entrepreneurs are motivated by the desire of independence, flexible schedules, following family traditions or parental self-employment, the desire to turn their hobby into a money-making enterprise, creativity, the fear of unemployment, social status, motivating others, personal skills and entrepreneurial capabilities. Moreover, the study also discovered three new motivational factors such as support from their previous employer, influence from friends and other people on the internet and the desire to experience new and exciting things. When it comes to challenges, student entrepreneurs are facing difficulties such as lack of resources, being a student while running a business, lack of networks, lack of knowledge, lack of entrepreneurial and administrative skills, lack of support from family/ business partner, lack of legal/formal help, negative personality traits and dealing with tax systems. Furthermore, two new challenges are also identified in the study that are the lack of credibility and the cultural differences and language barriers.

Social entrepreneurs utilize the traits of commercial entrepreneurs; organizational abilities, opportunity identification, combining resources in novel ways, willingness to accept and manage risk and explosive growth or returns, to create enterprises that return high social value. As educators, we see opportunities where entrepreneurial skills can be applied to education, not-for-profit organizations, government offices and programs and philanthropic concerns and create service learning opportunities for students beyond the boundaries of the university. Many of us involved in higher education are frustrated with students who do not attend class, turn in assignments late or exhibit a lack of effort in classes where they pay tuition and receive a grade. It is a challenge, therefore, to gain the involvement of students in social entrepreneurship efforts where the reward (grade, pay or recognition) is not immediate or minimal and the trade-off (time management for their schedule) may be more fun or financially rewarding. This paper discusses the evolution for the process of enlisting student involvement in two distinct social entrepreneurship programs at our university. The first program involves linking university skill sets in the arts, digital media, technology and project management to the planning, implementation and evaluation of a regional arts and music festival held in the city where our university operates. Students involved in this social entrepreneurial venture work with community volunteers, city government officials and local business owners for a period of nine to ten months. In the first two years of sponsoring this program the strategy has evolved from enlisting the help of a student technology club (Edge Club, Digital Media) to working with a small volunteer student team (3 to 4 students). In each case, the organization or student team that worked on the project received no academic credit for the work involved beyond enhancement of their resume. Initial enthusiasm was high but tended to decline as the time horizon for finishing the project extended beyond the current semester and other activities or demands competed for the students’ participation. The second program also utilizes a student organization (Students In Free Enterprise, SIFE) to work on social entrepreneurship projects. In SIFE we have found that the students prefer projects that entail an afternoon of preparation for a short presentation, or service within a 3-4 day period. In that this group is involved in a “competition” with SIFE teams from other institutions at the end of the year, it is important that they seek projects that will differentiate themselves. The short-term projects that they prefer do little to accomplish this differentiation. The projects that truly differentiate are those that require a high degree of preparation for an event that culminates at the end of the semester, or even the following year. To that end, all students of this select team are required to create a long-term project that they will spearhead throughout the year. This leads to an escalation of commitment due to their “ownership” of that project. They are also required to assist another team member on their long-term project. Their efforts on these projects tend to be greater in that they realize that the other members will be assisting them on their project and they want to receive a conscientious effort from their teammates. This synergistic performance enhances both the number and quality of the projects. Using this method, we typically create 5 to 6 viable projects each year. Most teams that we compete with tend to have one major project per year. Using this system our university team has completed an average of 10 projects per year for presentation, of which 2 to 3 have been major projects.

Purpose - to investigate the phenomenon of sustainable social (enterprise) entrepreneurship from both organisational and individual/personal identity perspectives. Two research questions ask: (RQ1) what are the key organisational identity (OI) and governance issues associated with sustainable social enterprises (SEs) and social entrepreneurship?, and; (RQ2) who are the social enterprise (SE) leaders/entrepreneurs (and why are they important from an identity perspective)? Design/methodology/approach – A stage 1 interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) employed 30 semi-structured interviews of social entrepreneurs in the (UK) South East; a macro-level conceptualisation of social enterprise (organisational) identity, sustainability and governance issues being the key deliverable. This was followed by a stage 2 social constructionist and social entrepreneurial identity study; whereby, 16 in-depth interviews, with 3 case study social enterprise leaders were conducted over a period of three years. Stage 3 involved 2 employee and volunteer focus groups to help triangulate data from the previous stages. Finally, stage 4 follow-up interviews with 4 selected informants helped evaluate the impact of the Brexit vote on my thesis arguments. Various third sector and government policy documents were consulted throughout the study. Findings – Firstly, I argue that understanding who organisations are, as well as, what they do, are important for understanding the sustainability of social enterprises, and the third sector. A new conceptual social enterprise grid (SEG) is developed to distinguish who social enterprises are; relative to other third and public-sector organisations. Secondly, a Ricoeurian narrative analysis helps demonstrate the agentic role of social entrepreneurs; how social enterprise sustainability is motivated by personal beliefs, social values and an idem (i.e. almost permanent) sense of identity. Similarly, results demonstrate how social enterprise sustainability could be at least part-attributed, to the lifetime agentic function of social entrepreneurs. Originality/value – This PhD thesis addresses fundamental definitional and theory gaps in the social enterprise and third sector identity literatures. It contributes by offering fresh perspectives on the complex and inter-related issues of (organisational and socio-entrepreneurial) identity, governance and sustainability.

At the start of the twentieth century, Schumpeter (1908; 1912) postulated the basis for a potential revolution in economics by arguing that the entrepreneur acts as the underlying force of economic growth. Despite Schumpeter’s contribution, the central role of entrepreneurship has only been systematically recognised in the literature in the past few years (Santarelli & Vivarelli, 2007). Santarelli and Vivarelli (2007) contended that the most common way to measure entrepreneurship was to focus on entrepreneurial start-up rates. Shane (2009) suggested that achieving job creation and economic growth from entrepreneurship is not a numbers game and entrepreneurship policy should encourage the formation of high quality, high growth companies. Furthermore, DeTienne (2010) stated that the entrepreneurial process does not end with the creation of a new business, but instead with entrepreneurial exit. Considering the crucial role of entrepreneurship, this thesis will look at these issues through three independent but interrelated studies: The first study introduces and assesses a set of measures of the quality of government that has both theoretical and empirical importance. The results confirm that the quality of government demonstrates varying moderating effects on the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurial start-ups. Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour and the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach, the second study looks at entrepreneurs’ growth aspirations in China. The results suggest that there is a positive relationship between attitude and growth aspirations and that people who perceive a greater sense of control over the outcomes of their actions are more likely to possess growth aspirations. The results also confirm the positive moderating effects of entrepreneurial ecosystems on the relationship between individual motivational aspects and growth aspirations. The third study first assesses how individual cognitive aspects can contribute to distinctions in exit motives. Second, by adopting resource dependence theory, and institutional theory, this study argues that environmental dynamism and institutional ambiguity exert direct and indirect effects on entrepreneurial exit patterns in China.

The dissertation examines the entrepreneurial process in the soft sciences field. Since the main difference between hard and soft sciences is in the codification of knowledge, the understanding of why and how a soft science finding can be traded might open the doors to new kinds of entrepreneurship. After the global crisis of the last decade, many disequilibrium situations have arisen. In particular, in the Western World, it has involved the personal and societal spheres where iniquity and injustice conditions have spread. An increasing attention to ethical themes, joint with environmental problems, led to a diffusion of social entrepreneurship in all its facets. So, after framing cultural and educational entrepreneurship inside commercial and social entrepreneurial concepts, the dissertation shows the main frameworks developed by academics and scholars on these specific fields. Two cases of academic entrepreneurship in humanities and social sciences are presented to support these theoretical frameworks. By a side they emphasize the differences between academic startups and spin-offs, while on the other hand they provide cues for an examination of the commercialization of products developed starting from low-codified knowledge.

This thesis explores the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Entrepreneurial Passion. It specifically does this by attempting to find a correlation between the varying competencies of Emotional Intelligence and the consciously accessible, Intense positive feelings for Entrepreneurial Passion for Developing, Founding and Inventing. In this study, survey data was used to investigate the above correlation among a group of 66 entrepreneurs in a Stockholm tech-based start-up/co-working hub setting. This was completed through the quantitative analytical statistical method of Spearman correlation and other methods. Through a theoretical framework utilizing self-regulation theory, the author found that there is a positive, statistically significant correlation between Emotional Intelligence and the consciously accessible, Intense positive feelings of Entrepreneurial Passion and their three domains (Founding, Developing and Inventing). Theoretical and entrepreneurial implications and further suggestions for future research conclude the thesis.
Denna uppsats undersöker förhållandet mellan Känslans intelligens och entreprenörspassion. Den gör det specifikt genom att försöka hitta en korrelation mellan de olika kompetenserna i Känslans intelligens och de medvetet tillgängliga, intensiva positiva känslorna för entreprenörspassion för att utveckla, grunda och uppfinna. I denna studie användes undersökningsdata för att undersöka ovanstående korrelation mellan en grupp av 66 företagare i en Stockholm-baserad teknik för start-up / co-working hub. Detta genomfördes med en kvantitativt statistisk analys och applikation av metoden för Spearman-korrelation och andra metoder. Genom ett teoretiskt ramverk som använder självregleringsteori fann författaren att det fanns en positiv, statistiskt signifikant korrelation mellan Känslans intelligens och de medvetet tillgängliga, intensiva positiva känslorna av entreprenörspassion och deras tre domäner (grunda, utveckla och uppfinna). Avhandlingen avslutas med entreprenörs implikationer såväl som teoretiska sådana samt ytterligare förslag för framtida forskning.
Tässä opinnäytetyössä tutkitaan tunneälyn ja yrittäjän intohimon suhdetta. Erityisesti pyritään löytämään korrelaatio vaihtelevien tunneälytaitojen ja tietoisesti saavutettavien intensiivisten positiivisten tunteiden välillä, yrittäjän intohimon suuntautuessa kehittämiseen, yrityksen perustamiseen tai keksimiseen. Tässä tutkimuksessa kyselydataa käytettiin selvittämään em. korrelaatiota 66 tukholmalaisen tekniikkapohjaisen start-up/alan keskittymän asetelmassa. Tämä tehtiin valmiiksi Spearmanin korrelaation kvantitatiivisen analyyttisen tilastollisen menetelmän ja muiden menetelmien avulla. Itsesäätelyteoriaa hyödyntävän teoreettisen viitekehyksen avulla tekijä löysi positiivisen, tilastollisesti merkittävän korrelaation tunneälyn ja tietoisesti saavutettavien intensiivisten positiivisten yrittäjän intohimon tunteiden ja niiden kolmen lajin (yrityksen perustaminen, kehittäminen ja keksiminen) välillä. Opinnäytetyön päättävät teoreettiset ja yrittäjyydelliset päätelmät ja edelleen ehdotukset tulevaisuuden tutkimukselle.
Esta tesis analiza la relación entre la inteligencia emocional y la pasión emprendedora. Concretamente, lo hace al intentar encontrar una correlación entre las diversas competencias de la inteligencia emocional y los sentimientos positivos intensos y accesibles conscientemente de la pasión empresarial para desarrollar, crear e inventar. En este estudio, los datos de la encuesta se han utilizado para investigar la correlación anterior en un grupo de 66 emprendedores en un entorno de centro de trabajo cooperativo o de ''start-up'' basado en tecnología de Estocolmo. Este estudio se finalizó a través del método estadístico analítico cuantitativo de correlación de Spearman y otros métodos. A través de un marco teórico que utiliza la teoría de la autorregulación, el autor halló una correlación positiva y estadísticamente significativa entre la Inteligencia Emocional y los sentimientos intensos positivos y accesibles conscientemente de la Pasión Empresarial y sus tres ámbitos (Fundar, Desarrollar e Inventar). La tesis concluye con las implicaciones teóricas y de emprendedores y otras sugerencias para futuras investigaciones.

This dissertation deals with the rise of new industries through entrepreneurial activities. The aim is to investigate how differences in contexts might encourage or discourage entrepreneurial activities. This contextualization of entrepreneurship enhanced our understanding of when, how and why entrepreneurial activities happen. Entrepreneurship is recognized to be a spatially uneven process and, in addition to previous research that has examined the actions of individual entrepreneurs, we also need to understand the context in which entrepreneurship occurs. We have a good understanding of how structural conditions like industry structure, organization structure and agglomeration effects influence the context, but we know little about how the social dimension of the context is the transmitting medium between structural conditions for entrepreneurship and the decision to act upon identified entrepreneurial opportunities. Following this line of argument, this dissertation is built on the assumption that entrepreneurship is a social phenomenon which gives strong arguments for including local culture in entrepreneurship research. The temporal persistence and the pronounced differences of culture and structural conditions between places reflect path-dependent processes. I therefore use regional path dependence as an interpretative lens to study the contextualization of entrepreneurship in two Swedish cities. Although each context is unique, some generalizations can be drawn from the four individual papers in this dissertation. The first is that industrial legacy leads to the formation of a distinct local culture and that the persistency of this culture influences the subsequent entrepreneurial activities in new local industries. The second is that this persistency of culture suggests that entrepreneurs who are outsiders, geographically or socially, are the driving forces for the emergence of new local industries. Finally, new industry emergence is a result of a combination of exogenous forces and initial local conditions, but it is the entrepreneurial individuals who translate these forces and conditions into entrepreneurial activities.

It is argued in this research that many modern-day African states share a set of characteristics in their political ideology and economic doctrines which stem from a shared history of colonialism and forms of foreign occupation and subjugation of indigenous peoples. Historically, evidence shows that colonialism in Africa resulted in economic disparity through the skewed land and business ownership, unequal education systems, and unequal opportunities in employment and business. In response to these historical dynamics a prevailing nationalist political ideology of indigenisation in African states has resulted in systems of legislation which are designed to support the economic empowerment of native people with the intention of structural transformation of economies by, amongst other things, supporting indigenous entrepreneurship through incentives and other policy supports. Policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in South Africa and Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (IEE) in Zimbabwe are archetypes of this policy explicitly aligned with this indigenisation project and designed to uplift indigenous people’s participation in economic activities.In this context of a political economy of empowerment-oriented political ideology and legislative and policy frameworks in African states, this research seeks to define the features of indigenous entrepreneurship, which is the natural focus of much of the indigenisation project. It is theorised in this research that these factors combine to form a unique form of entrepreneurship, here termed indigenous entrepreneurship in the modern African state. Additionally, this research recognises that there appears to be a significant gap between economic empowerment policy objectives and the actual performance of indigenous entrepreneurs, and that this gap seems to be widening. Despite this wide-scale programme, economic participation by indigenous peoples in southern African states is poor. The total entrepreneurial activity of indigenous people in southern Africa remains lower compared to their compatriots. In South Africa, unemployment rates amongst indigenous people is estimated between 30 to 40 percent, and in Zimbabwe it is between 60 to 90 percent, with these rates continually rising. Furthermore, the BEE policies’ equity transfer approach has not resulted in significant wealth redistribution to marginalised groups but rather tends towards a few Black African elites with political connections. The research develops a conceptual model of indigenous entrepreneurship in the modern African state based on a thorough review of the literature on indigenous entrepreneurship and the two case study countries of South Africa and Zimbabwe. The testing of this conceptual model through empirical research answers the research questions related to defining the features of indigenous entrepreneurship, assessing the influence of indigenisation ideology and economic empowerment policies on indigenous entrepreneurship, and determining the barriers that apply to indigenous entrepreneurship in the modern African state.The study adopts a qualitative longitudinal case study design, whereby in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with respondents repeatedly over time. Fifty two indigenous entrepreneurs practising within the geographical areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa, and Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, operating formal enterprises were sampled. The study adopted a purposive and later snowballing sampling technique to solicit indigenous entrepreneur respondents. ATLAS.ti software was used to organise interview transcript data into themes. Content and thematic analyses were utilised to organise data. Additionaly, R statistical software was used to analyse themes to create data cluster analysis. The theoretical propositions that indigenous entrepreneurship would be shaped by the indigenisation ideology and economic empowerment policies proved to be only partly confirmed. Surprisingly, the indigenous entrepreneurship businesses themselves proved to be varied and modern in nature, operating in sectors including auditing, construction, events management, information technology, mining, retail and transport and logistics. The theoretical propositions related to indigenous entrepreneurship practices were more strongly confirmed, as the approach to acquiring customers, marketing the business, finding business opportunities were strongly located within indigenous social relations and strategies informed by culture. The exception was the finding that suppliers tended to be non-indigenous, which reinforces the picture of indigenous entrepreneurship in the modern African state as being a hybrid model of indigenous cultural and modern economic practices. The landscape of business opportunities are located in a modernising economic paradigm, while the practices located within the business itself including many of the standard modern business activities such as customer acquisition have an indigenous character.The findings reveal that there are exogenous factors which both support and inhibit indigenous entrepreneurship. The indigenisation ideology is a strong positive influence on the willingness and motivation to engage in entrepreneurship as it casts such activities as acts of restoring cultural pride and rectifying historical injustices. The economic empowerment legislative environment is tangible and a pervasive factor for entrepreneurs, with many benefiting directly from some aspects of operation of the policies. However, numerous barriers exist to the application of the policies, such as corruption, lack of policy information and difficulties in understanding and complying with complexities of the policies in both countries. Similarly, endogenous factors such as the lack of capital, adequate education, and training resulted in minimal use of the policy incentives by entrepreneurs. Consequently, this study developed a practical bottom-up framework to promote indigenous entrepreneurship practice. Recommendations for policy-makers and entrepreneurs include consistent consultations, assessment, and evaluation mechanisms for policy and practice incentives.
Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Scholarly publications and discussions provide differing views on what Social Entrepreneurship is (or is not) that result to a knowledge gap wherefrom this study’s departure point is drawn. Such gap allows interpretation that the adoption of business model can not be fully disregarded as part and parcel of social entrepreneurship (SE). Moreover, entrepreneurial activities within SE is seen by some as a possible source of self-sustenance. Therefore, this research explores and seeks to provide an understanding of the role of business model for social entrepreneurship from a sustainability perspective. Practical examples of social entrepreneurship in the Philippines are used where the context of the practitioners themselves are taken into account. Qualitative research with semi-structured interview that is compatible with social constructionism approach are employed to obtain contextual understanding of the role of business model for SE that this study aims to achieve. The findings indicate, among others, that the organisations studied are Social Enterprises precisely because they are able to apply business principles while doing social mission, and business model is a necessary sustainability ingredient for SE.

Abstract Entrepreneurship education in non-business studies has not been extensively studied. The requirements and special features of engineering education of applied sciences is a fairly unaddressed research topic. Yet, there is a growing need to develop the entrepreneurial behaviour of graduates, as voiced in feedback from stakeholders and other actors in society. The competence requirements of graduates are constantly evolving; they are specified globally as well. The aim and motivation for this study is to develop a new framework for fostering entrepreneurship in engineering education. The developed framework could be used for developing, firstly, entrepreneurial behaviour, and secondly, the entrepreneurial mind-set of the engineering graduates. The main focus of entrepreneurship education research has been on content issues and primarily from the perspective of business studies. Therefore, this study has focused on pondering the methodological challenges of entrepreneurship education in the chosen target field, engineering education. The context for outlining the framework is constructed by first introducing the operational environment of the target organisation. Thereafter, the central concepts of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education and technology-based entrepreneurship are processed in a literature review in order to build the theoretical basis. In addition, research methods with ontological and epistemological choices are displayed. Due to the multilevel structure of the research phenomenon, the study approaches the phenomenon through four essays. The first essay opens up the aspects and background in order to understand the role and expectations of stakeholders as regards entrepreneurship education. The second essay concentrates on the pedagogical issues and possibilities of action-based learning methods with respect to entrepreneurship education especially. The third essay combines effectuation and causation perspectives on opportunity recognition and offers a framework for effectuation-based entrepreneurship education. The fourth essay is an empirical study covering effectuation and causation from the point of view of local technology-based companies. The conclusions of the study suggest that the outlined effectual entrepreneurship education, if combined with action-based learning methods like enquiry-based learning for instance, could support the development of entrepreneurial behaviour, and ensuing entrepreneurship, among engineering students. It is also suggested that adoption of the new framework requires renewal of the learning environment, and the involvement of the entire organisation in the change process
Tiivistelmä Yrittäjyyskasvatusta ja -koulutusta ei juurikaan ole tutkittu muutoin kuin liiketaloustieteen koulutuksen kannalta. Erityisesti aiheen tutkiminen ammattikorkeakoulujen insinöörikoulutuksen näkökulmasta on ollut vähäistä. Kuitenkin niin sidosryhmät kuin yhteiskuntakin odottavat yhä enemmän valmistuvien omaksuvan koulutuksen aikana yrittäjämäistä käyttäytymistä ja yrittäjyysajattelua. Valmistuvien osaamisvaatimukset kehittyvät jatkuvasti ja ne on määritelty myös maailmanlaajuisesti. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus ja motivaatio on kehittää uusi insinöörikoulutukseen soveltuva yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja -koulutuksen viitekehys. Sitä voitaisiin käyttää ensinnäkin kehittämään valmistuvien insinöörien yrittäjämäistä käyttäytymistä ja toiseksi heidän yrittäjyysajatteluaan. Näyttää siltä, että yrittäjyyskasvatuksen tutkimuksen painopiste on ollut sisältöön liittyvissä kysymyksissä liiketalouden näkökulmasta tarkasteluna. Siksi tässä tutkimuksessa on keskitytty sen sijaan pohtimaan yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja -koulutuksen pedagogisia haasteita valitun kohderyhmän, insinöörikoulutuksen yhteydessä. Viitekehyksen kontekstia on hahmoteltu esittelemällä ensinnäkin kohdeorganisaation toimintaympäristöä. Sen jälkeen on käsitelty kirjallisuuskatsauksessa teoreettisen taustan muodostamiseksi tutkimuksen kannalta sellaisia keskeisiä käsitteitä kuten yrittäjyys, yrittäjyyskasvatus ja -koulutus sekä teknologiayrittäjyys. Lisäksi on esitelty valittujen tutkimusmetodien ontologisia ja epistemologisia perusteita. Tutkittavan ilmiön monitahoisuudesta johtuen aihetta on lähestytty neljän esseen kautta. Ensimmäinen essee selvittää sidosryhmien roolia ja odotuksia yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja -koulutuksen kentässä. Toinen essee tarkastelee pedagogisia näkökulmia ja etenkin aktivoivien opetusmenetelmien antia yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja -koulutuksen näkökulmasta. Kolmas essee selvittää effektuaation ja kausaation näkökulmien yhteyttä liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien tunnistamiseen ja esittelee effektuaatiota hyödyntävän yrittäjyyskasvatuksen ja -koulutuksen viitekehyksen. Neljäs essee on empiirinen tutkimus, joka lähestyy effektuaatiota ja kausaatiota paikallisten teknologiayritysten näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksissä esitetään, että hahmoteltu effektuaatioon perustuva yrittäjyyskasvatus ja -koulutus yhdistettynä aktivoiviin opetusmenetelmiin, esimerkiksi tutkivaan oppimiseen, voisi kehittää valmistuvien insinöörien yrittäjämäistä käyttäytymistä ja yrittäjyysasennetta, ja lisätä myöhemmin myös yrittäjyyttä. Sen lisäksi ehdotetaan, että uuden viitekehyksen käyttöönotto edellyttää niin oppimisympäristöjen uudistamista kuin koko organisaation sitoutumista muutosprosessiin

Cette thèse prend pour objet la diffusion dans les grandes écoles et les universités de modules de sensibilisation et de formation à « l’entrepreneuriat » ou à l’ « esprit d’entreprendre » destinés aux étudiants. Articulant science politique, sociologie de l’éducation et sociologie économique, ce travail retrace la genèse d’un problème public, sa mise en politique publique, et sa traduction en curriculum pour produire des conduites économiques d’un type particulier. Basé sur une enquête combinant méthodes qualitatives (entretiens, observations, archives) et quantitatives (passage et traitement de questionnaires), cette recherche montre, d’une part, comment certains espaces de l’enseignement supérieur se transforment sous l’effet de l’appropriation de cette nouvelle mission éducative et, d’autre part, comment le projet d’éduquer à l’entreprise se voit à son tour transformé par sa mise en forme scolaire et académique. Par ailleurs, ce travail établit que, si l’acclimatation de l’entrepreneuriat dans l’enseignement supérieur est rendue possible par la variété des usages dont il fait l’objet dans cet espace, ceux-ci ne sont toutefois jamais en mesure de modifier radicalement la signification d’un projet d’ « éducation au libéralisme » dont le cadre sémantique s’est cristallisé de longue date. En proposant une sociologie historique et politique de l’éducation à l’entrepreneuriat, cette thèse entend renouveler la connaissance de l’enseignement supérieur de deux façons : d’abord, en en donnant à voir des espaces et des acteurs jusqu’ici mal connus ; ensuite, en étudiant conjointement des dimensions rarement appréhendées ensemble (politiques universitaires et contenus d’enseignement). Ce faisant, ce travail contribue à la compréhension des mécanismes sociaux de production, de circulation et de légitimation de croyances et de pratiques économiques propres au capitalisme contemporain
This thesis analyzes the dissemination of training modules on « entrepreneurship » or « entrepreneurial spirit » to the students of the « grandes écoles » and universities in France. Located at the intersection of political science, sociology of education and economic sociology, this research traces the genesis of a public problem, policy-making surrounding it and its translation into a curriculum to produce specific economic behaviors.Based on a field survey combining qualitative methods (interviews, participatory observations, archival research) and quantitative methods (questionnaires), this thesis demonstrates how certain areas of higher education are transformed by the appropriation of this new educational mission, and how the project of entrepreneurship education is in turn transformed by its school and academic formatting. This thesis then highlights that if the various uses of entrepreneurship in higher education have made its acclimatization in this space possible, these uses, however, are never able to radically change the meaning of a project of « education to liberalism » whose semantic framework has crystallized for a long time. Proposing a historical and political sociology of entrepreneurship education, this research intends to renew the knowledge on higher education in two ways : first, it analyzes spaces and actors that are typically/historicallunderstudied ; second, it analyzes two dimensions rarely considered together (university policies and content). This thesis therefore contributes to understanding the social mechanisms of production, circulation and legitimization of economic beliefs and practices characteristic of contemporary capitalism