Rags to riches? Entrepreneurs' social classes, resourceful time allocation, and venture performance

Inequality and Entrepreneurial Agency: How Social Class Origins Affect Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

“…Prior research on entrepreneurship and inequality on the macro-level discusses the role of institutions and economic growth (Patel et al, 2021), the effect of inequality on social entrepreneurship activity (Pathak & Muralidharan, 2018), and the consequences of entrepreneurial activity on inequality (Lewellyn, 2018; Packard & Bylund, 2018). Most studies that consider individuals’ socioeconomic conditions investigate their influence on the likelihood of entrepreneurial career entry (Audretsch et al, 2013; Schoon & Duckworth, 2012; Xavier-Oliveira et al, 2015), whereas less is known about the association of being born into different social class backgrounds with entrepreneurial cognition (for a recent exception, see Ge et al, 2022).…”

The Chairman’s Rural Origin and Short-Term Expenditures in China

“…However, there is limited research on managers' rural backgrounds, perhaps because few entrepreneurs come from rural areas. Nevertheless, the opening of China's economy and society has led to a large number of rural people moving out of rural areas and emerging as entrepreneurs with rural backgrounds [17]. This makes the special role of rural background a social phenomenon that needs to be explored urgently.…”

“…Firstly, entrepreneurs who grow up in rural environments not only need to overcome material scarcity but also face cognitive limitations. The former is a crucial factor influencing whether individuals focus on the future or the present [17], while the latter exerts a lasting and profound impact on individuals' thinking and actions. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced among rural entrepreneurs from China due to the unique urban-rural dual system, which creates significant disparities in education levels and employment opportunities [30], further constraining individuals' cognitive patterns and affecting their long-term development.…”

“…Cultural capital theory, as one of the widely accepted sociological theories [16], emphasizes how culturally inherited social capital from one's family influences an individual's cognition, values, and behavioral patterns. Rural upbringing, as a significant social attribute, often comes with limited resources and relatively poor economic conditions [17]. Entrepreneurs from rural backgrounds may be influenced by specific cultural beliefs and values during their upbringing, which may place importance on immediate benefits and short-term returns.…”

The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Social Identity and the Mediation Effect of the Decision-Making Logic on the Bootstrapping Behavior of Nascent Ventures

“…In the context of ambiguous goals, entrepreneurs often choose their behavior based on their identity rather than personal preferences or goals (Sarasvathy & Dew, 2005). Although it has been found that entrepreneurs with different social identities adopt different entrepreneurial behaviors (Alsos et al, 2016;Ge et al, 2022;Ko & Kim, 2020;Lerner et al, 2018), the mechanism of the effect of entrepreneurs' social identity on bootstrapping behavior is insufficiently understood and underdeveloped by empirical research. Recent research by Grichnik et al (2014) studies the effect of entrepreneurs' human and social capital (identity) and bootstrapping activity, indicating that the entrepreneur's identity could be a potential antecedent of their bootstrapping behavior.…”