André van Stel’s research while affiliated with Trinity College Dublin and other places

One field of research to which David Storey made important contributions is the alleged impact of enterprise policy on regional economic development. In this field, his legacy to entrepreneurship research is perhaps his constant questioning of whether assumptions underpinning enterprise policy are correct. Possibly the most striking example in this regard relates to the assumption that new firms create new jobs. When questions as fundamental as the contribution of new businesses and SMEs to the creation of value and employment are still not clearly resolved; when they lead to questions about what would a priori be identifiable as the “right” type of entrepreneurship and how to promote it, then also comes a questioning about the “right” type of enterprise policy to pursue. David Storey has nourished this field of research with a significant and sometimes radical scope in his questioning. In this chapter, we outline this specific field of research, highlight David’s contributions, and sketch enterprise policy options in the context of global sustainability issues.

We investigate determinants of the frequency of ICT usage of three types of self-employed workers —self-employed with employees; independent own-account self-employed; and dependent self-employed workers— in 305 European NUTS-2 regions. Besides individual-level determinants, we also investigate the role of regional-level general human capital and of regional-level digital human capital, which capture distinct sources of regional knowledge spillovers. Our results show clear evidence for both types of spillover effects to exist. Moreover, we find that these effects also contribute to a convergence process in ICT use frequency (i) among the three types of self-employed within a given region and (ii) among regions.

We investigate determinants of the frequency of ICT usage of three types of self-employed workers—self-employed with employees, independent own-account self-employed, and dependent self-employed workers—in 305 European NUTS-2 regions. Besides individual-level determinants, we also investigate the role of regional-level general human capital and of regional-level digital human capital, which capture distinct sources of regional knowledge spillovers. Our results show clear evidence for both types of spillover effects to exist. Moreover, we find that these effects also contribute to a convergence process in ICT use frequency (i) among the three types of self-employed within a given region and (ii) among regions.

The chapter investigates how self-employed and wage-employed workers perceive institutional conditions affecting entrepreneurship. Although prior literature has examined the impact of the institutional environment on entrepreneurship, individuals’ perceptions of the institutional environment has received little intention, and it is these perceptions that will ultimately drive decisions. We use empirical data from five countries (Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, and Brazil) to compare the perceptions of wage- and self-employed individuals about the institutional conditions in their country that are most relevant to running a business. Wage-employed individuals may have a less well-informed view about the institutional environment influencing entrepreneurial practice than the self-employed, while perceptions may vary between countries due to different entrepreneurial cultures. Policymakers seeking to influence entrepreneurship need to consider not only the actual institutional conditions, but more crucially the perceptions and awareness of those conditions by different categories of labour market participants.

Using panel data for three five-year cohorts of starting entrepreneurs in European countries, we identify several growth trajectories that are followed by the entrepreneurs during the business formation stage (operationalised as the first five years of business). These growth trajectories are based on combining two criteria: (i) entry status (solo vs. employer) and (ii) activity status five years after start-up (solo vs. employer vs. exit (inactive)). We find that almost 2/3 of the initial cohorts of starting entrepreneurs exit their business within the business formation period, thereby confirming earlier literature. The employer state was found to be extremely fragile due to business exits and downsizing to solo operations. As a result, entrepreneurs creating stable jobs, defined as those who are employer entrepreneur at the end of the business formation period, represent only 1/6 of the sample of starting entrepreneurs. Remarkably, the majority of these surviving employers started as solo operators.

Non-employment including early retirement among individuals of older working age is a considerable concern. As life expectancies across the developed world continue to increase, individuals’ retirement savings often turn out to be inadequate. In policy circles, given the increasing old-age dependency ratio, self-employment is often seen as a potential route to extend the working lives of older labour force participants. By studying labour market switches of wage workers of 50 years and older, we investigate to what extent self-employment serves as a bridge to retirement. Using a longitudinal data base in European countries over the period 2005–2015, our findings suggest that although self-employment does serve as a bridge to retirement, this is much less likely to be the case for precarious wage workers—especially those with poor job prospects—than for wage workers at the higher end of the labour market, including those who are in good health and who have good job prospects in their current wage job. We also find that wage workers with precarious job conditions are more likely to switch into non-employment rather than into self-employment. Policy implications are discussed.

One of the most important transitions of China from a centrally planned economy to a market-based economy was the emergence of entrepreneurship in two different forms of private enterprise, viz., getihu and siyingqiye. Getihu firms are legally restricted to a household ownership structure and a firm size upper limit. Siyingqiye firms do not face these restrictions but are more costly to set up. Using a unique database for 31 Chinese regions over the period 1997–2009, we investigate the economic antecedents of regional rates of getihu and siyingqiye, and to what extent these antecedents are in line with the “entrepreneurial” or the “managed” economy as per Audretsch and Thurik (Audretsch and Thurik, Journal of Evolutionary Economics 10:17–34, 2000, Audretsch and Thurik, Industrial and Corporate Change 10:267–315, 2001). We find that particularly the antecedents of regional siyingqiye rates are in line with the “entrepreneurial” economy in the sense that regional economies that are more conducive to knowledge production and knowledge spillovers have higher rates of siyingqiye firms. Overall, our analysis suggests that both types of entrepreneurship play important but distinct roles in stimulating China’s economic development.

Today, Türkiye is a host country of more than 3.8 million refugees, from countries including but not limited to Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, etc. Refugee entrepreneurs have the potential of making significant contributions to the host country’s economy and society. Therefore, it is highly desirable to increase awareness of the conditions and characteristics of refugees leading to successful entrepreneurship activities. For this purpose, we aim to provide scientific evidence to answer the research question “What are the common success factors for refugee entrepreneurs in Türkiye? The chosen data collection method is one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted between June-Sep 2022 with refugee entrepreneurs who have settled in Türkiye (Central Anatolia region). The respondents have been living in Türkiye for nearly a decade and are owning enterprises with less than 50 employees with 56 economic power to employ other people. The 11 respondents included in the research were able to overcome the challenges and adversity they faced and were able to realize the business opportunities they discovered. Thus, we categorize the respondents as opportunity-driven (rather than subsistence) refugee entrepreneurs. We find that preparedness for innovation, proactiveness, self-reliance, and optimistic attitude to be the common factors among these successful opportunity-driven entrepreneurs. The respondents had a strong awareness for the value proposition, demand, and market gap for the business opportunity they wanted to pursue, and they conducted elaborate research and thought process before engaging in the entrepreneurship activity. Moreover, after initiation, they continuously worked to enhance their business network and relationships to scale their businesses, which resulted in them increasing the trade volume in the export channels from Türkiye to regions such as Arabian Peninsula. Hence, they provided added value to Türkiye’s economy. Finally, they adopted a self-reliant and optimistic attitude. They focused on overcoming the common refugee perception in Turkish society by assuming the full responsibility of their business from all aspects; and they commonly adopted a strong optimistic predisposition about Türkiye’s economic situation. Before coming to Türkiye, they mostly worked in hostile business environments with minimum enforcement of laws and regulations, and hence they were mostly satisfied with the governance and structured regulations for the business environment in Türkiye. They believed the effects of current fluctuations in Turkish economy can be shouldered. We believe this study provides insights into exogenous and endogenous factors contributing to the success of refugee entrepreneurs. With the exacerbation of global geopolitical tensions, the refugee influx to other countries in the world will keep increasing; and success of refugee entrepreneurs is expected to gain more and more prominence.