Productive, Unproductive and Destructive Entrepreneurship: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration

Abstract

Drawing on Baumol's concepts of productive, unproductive and destructive entrepreneurship and relevant amendments, this thesis aims to contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by developing a conceptual framework which allows operationalising the concepts for empirical assessment. Furthermore, using data from longitudinal survey, author makes one of the first attempts to address the concepts empirically. The results provide with support for the conceptual framework highlighting the importance to shift the focus from firms' activities to output on both, venture and societal levels, short and long term, when concepts are addressed empirically. Overall findings suggest that productive entrepreneurs are those who are less involved in behaviour such as tax avoidance or illegal business and show a higher level of entrepreneurial orientation.

Measuring the competitiveness of Latvian companies

“…Although the role of the owner-managers might be different, the education and skills of the company managers are certainly very important in big corporations as well. In this light, similar to other studies carried out in Latvia (see Baltrušaitytė-Axelson, Sauka, 2008), the results of this study also point towards a high or even very high level of education among the company managers. Almost 50% of the surveyed company owner-managers hold a bachelor's degree, and 22% a Master's degree.…”

“…In the sixth section, however, the company managers are asked to evaluate their business growth both from the financial and the social aspects, thus demonstrating to what extent the specific company has managed to create value with the available resources for itself and the surrounding environment, as well as how successful it has been in comparison with its competitors (see, e.g. Sauka, 2008).…”

Destructive entrepreneurship in the small business sector: bankruptcy fraud in Sweden, 1830–2010

“…They admit that this captures only fragments of the allocation concept; furthermore, it does not inform of the degree to which entrepreneurship is productive, unproductive, or destructive. Earlier efforts to operationalize the Baumolian framework include both micro-oriented studies that utilize either experimental, interview, or survey data (Collins et al 2016;Sauka 2008;Sauka and Welter 2007;Urbig et al 2012) and macro-oriented research using aggregate and/or cross-country data (Ashby 2015;Bjørnskov and Foss 2008;Sobel 2008). Albeit using different data, methodologies, approaches, and different spatial and temporal dimensions, past empirical work therefore commonly empirically operationalizes fragments of the Baumolian framework.…”

To Pay or Not to Pay? Business Owners’ Tax Morale: Testing a Neo-Institutional Framework in a Transition Environment

“…Several studies argue that such deviant forms of firm behaviour, such as tax evasion, while contributing to firm growth, can also bring some societal benefits (Sauka 2008;Davidsson and Wiklund 2001;Warren 2003). From a narrow utilitarian perspective, if the private sector spending is more efficient, the money should stay there (for discussion, see : Benk et al 2015;Preobragenskaya and McGee 2016).…”