The effects of opportunity motivation and environmental contingencies on market growth strategies of African early-stage entrepreneurs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how early-stage entrepreneurs' opportunity motivation impacts their choice of market growth strategies as well as the contingent roles of institutional environments and product market conditions in Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs hierarchical linear modeling to test multilevel models with nested data empirically.FindingsThe findings show that African early-stage entrepreneurs who are opportunity-driven and from countries with strong institutional environments have a higher tendency to adopt market exploration strategies. African early-stage entrepreneurs from countries with strong product market conditions have a higher tendency to adopt market penetration strategies. Further interaction tests show that both contingency conditions, namely institutional environments and product market conditions, moderate the effects of opportunity motivation on market growth strategies of African early-stage entrepreneurs.Practical implicationsThe study shows that policymakers in Africa need to develop flexible, supportive market-related policies based on entrepreneurs' growth paths, institutional environments and product market conditions.Originality/valueThe study is the first to explore multilevel influences on early-stage entrepreneurs' market growth strategies in Africa. It sheds new insights on the entrepreneurial marketing process of early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa.

Cash holdings, tax policies, and institutional environments of innovative enterprises

We discover a positive association between a firm's innovativeness and its cash holdings using data from 11,653 innovative enterprises in 51 non-US economies. This relationship is even stronger now that patent boxes have been implemented, which provide preferential tax treatment for patent income. Additionally, creative multinationals that face increased repatriation taxes amass larger total cash holdings. The positive innovativeness–cash relationship is more pronounced in countries with higher R&D tax credits, less developed financial markets, stronger governance, stronger shareholder rights, more technicians, better infrastructure, and greater investment freedom, as well as in industries with fiercer competition and longer innovation cycles. Innovative organizations with greater cash on hand invest more in research and development and generate more patents. In general, our findings shed light on the factors that contribute to the massive wealth buildup in creative enterprises globally.

Coping With Institutional Complexity and Voids: An Organization Design Perspective for Transnational Interorganizational Projects

This study investigates how transnational interorganizational projects (IOPs) cope with institutional complexity and voids. A case study of a cross-border gas pipeline suggests the coexistence of institutional complexity and voids that amplify collaboration hazards in developing transnational IOPs. Institutional complexity harms the feasibility of a unified form of organizing, whereas institutional voids sabotage the ability of involved organizations to collaborate in a market-based approach. A hybrid organization featured by modular structure, complementary advantages, and system integrator, was designed to navigate complex institutional environments. This study contributes to the project–organization–institution linkage by depicting the impacts of institutions on project organizing.

Influence of genetic factors and institutional environment on entrepreneurial activity: evidence from a twin study in Italy

Genetic factors influence entrepreneurial activity, but we know little about how genetic factors influence entrepreneurial activity when the institutional environment is favorable. Two theories from behavioral genetics explain the gene–environment interaction. One theory argues that a favorable environment favors the development of genetic factors and their influence. An alternative theory posits that unfavorable environment triggers the development of genetic factors and their influence. I test these two competing theories with a twin study based in Italy. I compare the influence of genetic factors in provinces where the institutional environment favors entrepreneurial activity with provinces where the institutional environment is unfavorable to entrepreneurial activity. I found consistent evidence that genetic factors exert a larger influence in favorable institutional environments, suggesting that favorable institutional environments complement genetic factors.