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Ute Stephan

King's College London, King's Business, Faculty Member

KU Leuven, Faculty of Business and Economics, Visiting Scholar/ Researcher

Aston University, ABS, Faculty Member

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My research interests are (1) the relationships between culture, institutions and entrepreneurship and (2) social entrepreneurship, and (3) entrepreneurial motivation and well-being. I am Professor of Entrepreneurship at King's College London, Visiting Professor in Work- and Organizational Psychology at TU Dresden (Germany) as well as Honorary Professor at UCL's Department of Psychology and at Aston Business School. I am an Editor at Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and Consulting Editor at Journal of International Business Studies as well as the outgoing Editor-in-Chief of Applied Psychology: An International Review.

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Papers by Ute Stephan

Entrepreneurship and Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities

Environmental innovation and financial performance: the moderating effect of motives and firm size

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2013

There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-suc... more There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-such as environmental innovation-contribute to firm performance. Building on the resource-based view and on stakeholder theory, this study argues that the general positive effect of environmental innovation on financial performance varies significantly with firm size and the motives underlying a firm's engagement in environmental innovation. Integrating survey data and lagged annual account data on 1761 Flemish companies, we find that larger firms benefit financially from environmental innovation driven by regulation or industry codes of conduct, while smaller firms benefit from environmental innovation introduced in response to customer demand. While it is increasingly accepted that environmental innovation relates positively with firm performance, the current study highlights important boundary conditions of this relationship.

5 post-COVID trends from Indian entrepreneurs

Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs' creativity

Creativity-the generation of new and useful ideas-is seen as essential for entrepreneurship. Entr... more Creativity-the generation of new and useful ideas-is seen as essential for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs need to be creative day in and out to navigate the uncertainties, constraints and challenges that starting, growing and managing a business involves. Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, once said: "Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking." Creativity is important for finding the "big breakthrough ideas" for business opportunities and firm innovations as well as for tackling the everyday challenges of entrepreneurial work such as managing human and financial resources. Researchers and practitioners typically treat entrepreneurs' creativity as an inborn personality trait that is stable over one's lifetime. This implies that people deeming themselves to be less creative might refrain from entrepreneurial activities, because they think and are being told they do not to have the right skills to be an entrepreneur.

Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Ute Stephan, Przemysław Zbierowski, and Dominika Wach

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2022

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opp... more How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing.

Happy Entrepreneurs? Everywhere? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2022

Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish ... more Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish wellbeing. This meta-analytical review synthesizes 319 effect sizes from 94 studies and 82 countries to establish whether individuals derive greater wellbeing from working for themselves or for someone else. The answer is partly positive in favor of entrepreneurship but depends on the components of wellbeing under investigation (positive wellbeing or negative wellbeing/mental illbeing) and the institutional context (especially the rule of law). We contribute by developing the component view of wellbeing as an organizing framework and by advancing an institutional perspective to guide research on entrepreneurs’ wellbeing.

Entrepreneurship, age, and social value creation: A constraint-based individual perspective

Journal of Small Business Management, 2024

We advance research on social entrepreneurship by offering a constraint-based individual perspect... more We advance research on social entrepreneurship by offering a constraint-based individual perspective of “who” (gender, education) chooses to create social value “when” in their life course (proxied by age). Integrating predictions from situational strength theory in psychology and the life course perspective in sociology, we theorize that resource constraints determine at what age entrepreneurs are likely to prioritize social relative to economic value creation goals when starting their enterprise. We examine the intersection of entrepreneur age with gender and education to account for distinct patterns of resource constraints over the life course. Multilevel analyses of nationally representative samples of 5,251 new entrepreneurs from 44 countries reveal a robust curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship between age and social value creation and a steeper U-curve for more highly educated women. Our study offers a springboard for future entrepreneurship research considering individuals’ constraints on prosocial value expression by applying intersectional analyses.

Entrepreneurship after COVID-19 : an assessment of the short- and long-term consequences for Indian small business

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all walks of human life be it economic, health, social or ment... more The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all walks of human life be it economic, health, social or mental well-being. The nationwide lock-down for over two months and subsequent easing of restrictions over multiple months in 2020 has put significant stress on the Indian Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which contribute nearly one-third of India's GDP. This report discusses insights from a survey of Indian small business entrepreneurs that captured their situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess both the short- and long-term consequences and opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs, posed by the pandemic. We also notice that entrepreneurs have contributed beyond the economic considerations of the business, through volunteering their time and services for societal causes during the pandemic. We also compare the response of Indian entrepreneurs with their Asian peers from Bangladesh, China and Pakistan. The study reflects on four long terms trends for post-COVID economy ...

Advancing the psychology of entrepreneurship:a review of the psychological literature and an introduction

This article provides a narrative review of psychology of entrepreneurship research published in ... more This article provides a narrative review of psychology of entrepreneurship research published in leading psychology journals, based on which we develop an organising framework for future psychological contributions to this field. Furthermore, we introduce the manuscripts collected in this special issue. Our review identified five research areas, broadly corresponding with basic psychological domains, namely personal differences; careers; health and well-being; cognition and behaviour; and leadership; as well as three cross-cutting themes: gender issues; genetic and biological foundations; and context. With the aim to stimulate integration across different approaches and disciplines, we propose a framework to understand how psychologists can offer innovative contributions to the multi-disciplinary entrepreneurship literature. This includes a focus on the entrepreneur embedded in and in interaction with his or her immediate and wider context; attention to different types of entreprene...

New Insights on Social Entrepreneurship and Hybridity from the SEFORΪS Project

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018

Entrepreneurs' stressors and well-being: A recovery perspective and diary study

Journal of Business Venturing, 2020

Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintai... more Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintain their well-being in light of this is only poorly understood. Newly integrating the challenge-hindrance stressor framework with the stressor-detachment model of recovery from work stress, we investigate how specific challenge and hindrance stressors-cognitive and emotional demands-impact entrepreneurs' well-being by influencing their ability to detach and recover from work stress. Our diary study yielded 386 day-pair data points from 55 entrepreneurs. Challenge and hindrance stressors inhibited psychological detachment from work in the evening through increasing problem-solving pondering and work-related affective rumination, which diminished entrepreneurs' well-being the next morning. These effects are robust to alternative explanations (e.g., objectively measured sleep efficiency) and differ from relationships observed across entrepreneurs. Our findings elucidate the nature of stressors and the micro-foundational mechanisms of stress and recovery.

Sociology of Enterprise

at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for their support in the design and executi... more

Social enterprises, an economic force for building more inclusive societies? Evidence from the SEFORЇS study

Social enterprises are organisations that act entrepreneurially through generating revenues from ... more Social enterprises are organisations that act entrepreneurially through generating revenues from the sales of products or services and that have a primary social mission. Many see social enterprises as having transformative economic and societal impacts, particularly towards the creation of more inclusive societies. Yet others have more negative, sceptical views. To date this debate is surprisingly uninformed by high-quality evidence from a cross-country perspective. This policy brief presents insights into the scale and scope of social enterprises based on the SEFORЇS study - the worldwide largest panel study of social enterprises. The SEFORЇS study is unique in that it provides in-depth, rigorous data and on representative samples of over 1000 social enterprises in seven EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom), as well as China and Russia. Drawing on this unique database, this policy brief focusses on insights into: (1) The economic si...

SEFORIS Country Report - Social Enterprises in the United Kingdom

This country report shares first insights from the World's Largest Panel Study of Social Ente... more This country report shares first insights from the World's Largest Panel Study of Social Enterprises for the United Kingdom. It captures the behavior and characteristics of a representative sample of UK social enterprises who are employers. The report covers a range of topics from profiling social enterprise directors and their social enterprises, to innovation activities and barriers, their entrepreneurial orientation, social missions, social impact metrics to summarizing policy recommendations that social entrepreneurs would like to see being implemented. Who should read this report? The report is written for social enterprises, social enterprises support organisations and policy makers who want to get an overview of social enterprise in the UK. Thank you to all the social entrepreneurs who made this report possible by participating in our study!

Stressed But Happy? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Well-Being

Context and social enterprises: which environments enable social entrepreneurship?

Societal challenges such as inequalities, poverty, poor health and environmental degradation are ... more Societal challenges such as inequalities, poverty, poor health and environmental degradation are growing. Social enterprises – organisations that use market based-based activities to alleviate societal needs – and social entrepreneurs –individuals working for their own account to pursue prosocial goals to benefit others – can help to address such societal challenges. But how can social entrepreneurship be supported through policies and other support measures? To start answering these questions, we explored which environments enable social entrepreneurship across countries globally and across European regions. We did so by taking an institutional perspective, considering (1) formal institutions such as regulation, the welfare state and the rule of law, (2) informal institutions including cultural values and norms, social capital and religiosity, as well as (3) the alignment of formal and informal institutions. We also examined similarities and differences with commercial entrepreneur...

Recovery in occupational health psychology and human resource management research: An Interview with Prof. Sabine Sonnentag and Prof. Ute Stephan

German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 2021

While academic research on recovery was rather segregated between occupational health psychology ... more While academic research on recovery was rather segregated between occupational health psychology and management research at the beginning of the 20s century and streams of research developed independently, recent developments hint at a closing divide and better integration of recovery research across disciplines. This for example becomes evident in publications of researchers across the traditional outlets within both fields, as well as increasing close collaborations of researchers firmly rooted in one of the fields. In preparation of this special issue, the editors were interested in whether this development represents a convergence or even a true merging of research in these different disciplines. We therefore interviewed Prof. Sabine Sonnentag as expert from occupational health psychology research and Prof. Ute Stephan with expertise in management research. Both are excellent and world-famous researchers in their disciplines. We discussed the current state, the advances during t...

To Ask or not to Ask? How Entrepreneurs Manage the Feedback-seeking Paradox

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016

The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship Research

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2020

The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of ... more The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of entrepreneurship. This trend is aligned with the general interest in the biology of management studies as evidenced by the more than 300 articles already published (Nofal et al., 2018). It illustrates the progression of science along two dimensions. First is the drive to seek smaller units of analyses to identify the core mechanisms of action. Second is the opposing drive to seek larger units of analyses to identify general principles. These simultaneous processes move our understanding of social and natural phenomena closer to a unified theory. In this note, we reflect on how the biology of why, how, what, when, and where of entrepreneurship represents a natural progression from the institutional, organizational, and psychological explanations. We call this the biological perspective in entrepreneurship (BPE), which is illustrated by the papers in this volume. We examine the key domains of inquiry, various methodologies, and reflect on the directions that future research should take. We define the BPE as the body of research that examines the role of genetics (Nicolaou &

A fresh look at self-employment, stress and health: accounting for self-selection, time and gender

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2020

PurposePast research on self-employment and health yielded conflicting findings. Integrating pred... more PurposePast research on self-employment and health yielded conflicting findings. Integrating predictions from the Stressor-Strain Outcome model, research on challenge stressors and allostatic load, we predict that physical and mental health are affected by self-employment in distinct ways which play out over different time horizons. We also test whether the health impacts of self-employment are due to enhanced stress (work-related strain) and differ for man and women.Design/methodology/approachWe apply non-parametric propensity score matching in combination with a difference-in-difference approach and longitudinal cohort data to examine self-selection and the causal relationship between self-employment and health. We focus on those that transit into self-employment from paid employment (opportunity self-employment) and analyze strain and health over four years relative to individuals in paid employment.FindingsThose with poorer mental health are more likely to self-select into self-...

Entrepreneurship and Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities

Environmental innovation and financial performance: the moderating effect of motives and firm size

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2013

There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-suc... more There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-such as environmental innovation-contribute to firm performance. Building on the resource-based view and on stakeholder theory, this study argues that the general positive effect of environmental innovation on financial performance varies significantly with firm size and the motives underlying a firm's engagement in environmental innovation. Integrating survey data and lagged annual account data on 1761 Flemish companies, we find that larger firms benefit financially from environmental innovation driven by regulation or industry codes of conduct, while smaller firms benefit from environmental innovation introduced in response to customer demand. While it is increasingly accepted that environmental innovation relates positively with firm performance, the current study highlights important boundary conditions of this relationship.

5 post-COVID trends from Indian entrepreneurs

Rest and constructive thinking feed entrepreneurs' creativity

Creativity-the generation of new and useful ideas-is seen as essential for entrepreneurship. Entr... more Creativity-the generation of new and useful ideas-is seen as essential for entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs need to be creative day in and out to navigate the uncertainties, constraints and challenges that starting, growing and managing a business involves. Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop, once said: "Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking." Creativity is important for finding the "big breakthrough ideas" for business opportunities and firm innovations as well as for tackling the everyday challenges of entrepreneurial work such as managing human and financial resources. Researchers and practitioners typically treat entrepreneurs' creativity as an inborn personality trait that is stable over one's lifetime. This implies that people deeming themselves to be less creative might refrain from entrepreneurial activities, because they think and are being told they do not to have the right skills to be an entrepreneur.

Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Ute Stephan, Przemysław Zbierowski, and Dominika Wach

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2022

How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opp... more How can entrepreneurs protect their wellbeing during a crisis? Does engaging agility (namely, opportunity agility and planning agility) in response to adversity help entrepreneurs safeguard their wellbeing? Activated by adversity, agility may function as a specific resilience mechanism enabling positive adaption to crisis. We studied 3162 entrepreneurs from 20 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that more severe national lockdowns enhanced firm-level adversity for entrepreneurs and diminished their wellbeing. Moreover, entrepreneurs who combined opportunity agility with planning agility experienced higher wellbeing but planning agility alone lowered wellbeing. Entrepreneur agility offers a new agentic perspective to research on entrepreneur wellbeing.

Happy Entrepreneurs? Everywhere? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2022

Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish ... more Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish wellbeing. This meta-analytical review synthesizes 319 effect sizes from 94 studies and 82 countries to establish whether individuals derive greater wellbeing from working for themselves or for someone else. The answer is partly positive in favor of entrepreneurship but depends on the components of wellbeing under investigation (positive wellbeing or negative wellbeing/mental illbeing) and the institutional context (especially the rule of law). We contribute by developing the component view of wellbeing as an organizing framework and by advancing an institutional perspective to guide research on entrepreneurs’ wellbeing.

Entrepreneurship, age, and social value creation: A constraint-based individual perspective

Journal of Small Business Management, 2024

We advance research on social entrepreneurship by offering a constraint-based individual perspect... more We advance research on social entrepreneurship by offering a constraint-based individual perspective of “who” (gender, education) chooses to create social value “when” in their life course (proxied by age). Integrating predictions from situational strength theory in psychology and the life course perspective in sociology, we theorize that resource constraints determine at what age entrepreneurs are likely to prioritize social relative to economic value creation goals when starting their enterprise. We examine the intersection of entrepreneur age with gender and education to account for distinct patterns of resource constraints over the life course. Multilevel analyses of nationally representative samples of 5,251 new entrepreneurs from 44 countries reveal a robust curvilinear (U-shaped) relationship between age and social value creation and a steeper U-curve for more highly educated women. Our study offers a springboard for future entrepreneurship research considering individuals’ constraints on prosocial value expression by applying intersectional analyses.

Entrepreneurship after COVID-19 : an assessment of the short- and long-term consequences for Indian small business

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all walks of human life be it economic, health, social or ment... more The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all walks of human life be it economic, health, social or mental well-being. The nationwide lock-down for over two months and subsequent easing of restrictions over multiple months in 2020 has put significant stress on the Indian Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which contribute nearly one-third of India's GDP. This report discusses insights from a survey of Indian small business entrepreneurs that captured their situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We assess both the short- and long-term consequences and opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs, posed by the pandemic. We also notice that entrepreneurs have contributed beyond the economic considerations of the business, through volunteering their time and services for societal causes during the pandemic. We also compare the response of Indian entrepreneurs with their Asian peers from Bangladesh, China and Pakistan. The study reflects on four long terms trends for post-COVID economy ...

Advancing the psychology of entrepreneurship:a review of the psychological literature and an introduction

This article provides a narrative review of psychology of entrepreneurship research published in ... more This article provides a narrative review of psychology of entrepreneurship research published in leading psychology journals, based on which we develop an organising framework for future psychological contributions to this field. Furthermore, we introduce the manuscripts collected in this special issue. Our review identified five research areas, broadly corresponding with basic psychological domains, namely personal differences; careers; health and well-being; cognition and behaviour; and leadership; as well as three cross-cutting themes: gender issues; genetic and biological foundations; and context. With the aim to stimulate integration across different approaches and disciplines, we propose a framework to understand how psychologists can offer innovative contributions to the multi-disciplinary entrepreneurship literature. This includes a focus on the entrepreneur embedded in and in interaction with his or her immediate and wider context; attention to different types of entreprene...

New Insights on Social Entrepreneurship and Hybridity from the SEFORΪS Project

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018

Entrepreneurs' stressors and well-being: A recovery perspective and diary study

Journal of Business Venturing, 2020

Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintai... more Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintain their well-being in light of this is only poorly understood. Newly integrating the challenge-hindrance stressor framework with the stressor-detachment model of recovery from work stress, we investigate how specific challenge and hindrance stressors-cognitive and emotional demands-impact entrepreneurs' well-being by influencing their ability to detach and recover from work stress. Our diary study yielded 386 day-pair data points from 55 entrepreneurs. Challenge and hindrance stressors inhibited psychological detachment from work in the evening through increasing problem-solving pondering and work-related affective rumination, which diminished entrepreneurs' well-being the next morning. These effects are robust to alternative explanations (e.g., objectively measured sleep efficiency) and differ from relationships observed across entrepreneurs. Our findings elucidate the nature of stressors and the micro-foundational mechanisms of stress and recovery.

Sociology of Enterprise

at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills for their support in the design and executi... more

Social enterprises, an economic force for building more inclusive societies? Evidence from the SEFORЇS study

Social enterprises are organisations that act entrepreneurially through generating revenues from ... more Social enterprises are organisations that act entrepreneurially through generating revenues from the sales of products or services and that have a primary social mission. Many see social enterprises as having transformative economic and societal impacts, particularly towards the creation of more inclusive societies. Yet others have more negative, sceptical views. To date this debate is surprisingly uninformed by high-quality evidence from a cross-country perspective. This policy brief presents insights into the scale and scope of social enterprises based on the SEFORЇS study - the worldwide largest panel study of social enterprises. The SEFORЇS study is unique in that it provides in-depth, rigorous data and on representative samples of over 1000 social enterprises in seven EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom), as well as China and Russia. Drawing on this unique database, this policy brief focusses on insights into: (1) The economic si...

SEFORIS Country Report - Social Enterprises in the United Kingdom

This country report shares first insights from the World's Largest Panel Study of Social Ente... more This country report shares first insights from the World's Largest Panel Study of Social Enterprises for the United Kingdom. It captures the behavior and characteristics of a representative sample of UK social enterprises who are employers. The report covers a range of topics from profiling social enterprise directors and their social enterprises, to innovation activities and barriers, their entrepreneurial orientation, social missions, social impact metrics to summarizing policy recommendations that social entrepreneurs would like to see being implemented. Who should read this report? The report is written for social enterprises, social enterprises support organisations and policy makers who want to get an overview of social enterprise in the UK. Thank you to all the social entrepreneurs who made this report possible by participating in our study!

Stressed But Happy? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Well-Being

Context and social enterprises: which environments enable social entrepreneurship?

Societal challenges such as inequalities, poverty, poor health and environmental degradation are ... more Societal challenges such as inequalities, poverty, poor health and environmental degradation are growing. Social enterprises – organisations that use market based-based activities to alleviate societal needs – and social entrepreneurs –individuals working for their own account to pursue prosocial goals to benefit others – can help to address such societal challenges. But how can social entrepreneurship be supported through policies and other support measures? To start answering these questions, we explored which environments enable social entrepreneurship across countries globally and across European regions. We did so by taking an institutional perspective, considering (1) formal institutions such as regulation, the welfare state and the rule of law, (2) informal institutions including cultural values and norms, social capital and religiosity, as well as (3) the alignment of formal and informal institutions. We also examined similarities and differences with commercial entrepreneur...

Recovery in occupational health psychology and human resource management research: An Interview with Prof. Sabine Sonnentag and Prof. Ute Stephan

German Journal of Human Resource Management: Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 2021

While academic research on recovery was rather segregated between occupational health psychology ... more While academic research on recovery was rather segregated between occupational health psychology and management research at the beginning of the 20s century and streams of research developed independently, recent developments hint at a closing divide and better integration of recovery research across disciplines. This for example becomes evident in publications of researchers across the traditional outlets within both fields, as well as increasing close collaborations of researchers firmly rooted in one of the fields. In preparation of this special issue, the editors were interested in whether this development represents a convergence or even a true merging of research in these different disciplines. We therefore interviewed Prof. Sabine Sonnentag as expert from occupational health psychology research and Prof. Ute Stephan with expertise in management research. Both are excellent and world-famous researchers in their disciplines. We discussed the current state, the advances during t...

To Ask or not to Ask? How Entrepreneurs Manage the Feedback-seeking Paradox

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2016

The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship Research

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2020

The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of ... more The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of entrepreneurship. This trend is aligned with the general interest in the biology of management studies as evidenced by the more than 300 articles already published (Nofal et al., 2018). It illustrates the progression of science along two dimensions. First is the drive to seek smaller units of analyses to identify the core mechanisms of action. Second is the opposing drive to seek larger units of analyses to identify general principles. These simultaneous processes move our understanding of social and natural phenomena closer to a unified theory. In this note, we reflect on how the biology of why, how, what, when, and where of entrepreneurship represents a natural progression from the institutional, organizational, and psychological explanations. We call this the biological perspective in entrepreneurship (BPE), which is illustrated by the papers in this volume. We examine the key domains of inquiry, various methodologies, and reflect on the directions that future research should take. We define the BPE as the body of research that examines the role of genetics (Nicolaou &

A fresh look at self-employment, stress and health: accounting for self-selection, time and gender

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 2020

PurposePast research on self-employment and health yielded conflicting findings. Integrating pred... more PurposePast research on self-employment and health yielded conflicting findings. Integrating predictions from the Stressor-Strain Outcome model, research on challenge stressors and allostatic load, we predict that physical and mental health are affected by self-employment in distinct ways which play out over different time horizons. We also test whether the health impacts of self-employment are due to enhanced stress (work-related strain) and differ for man and women.Design/methodology/approachWe apply non-parametric propensity score matching in combination with a difference-in-difference approach and longitudinal cohort data to examine self-selection and the causal relationship between self-employment and health. We focus on those that transit into self-employment from paid employment (opportunity self-employment) and analyze strain and health over four years relative to individuals in paid employment.FindingsThose with poorer mental health are more likely to self-select into self-...

Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets

The Oxford Handbook of Management in Emerging Markets, 2018

The level of entrepreneurial activity is higher in emerging markets than in developed economies, ... more The level of entrepreneurial activity is higher in emerging markets than in developed economies, driven by high levels of necessity entry and less daunting entry barriers, especially in the informal sector. However, a gap remains in our understanding of its extent and of the drivers of its change. This chapter addresses this gap by conceptualizing and providing evidence about the scale and nature of entrepreneurship in emerging markets. The chapter begins with an empirical analysis of entrepreneurship in emerging economies. In particular, it contrasts the way in which human capital is utilized by entrepreneurs in emerging market economies and in developed countries. The chapter goes on to the theme of human capital, bringing in theory, and considering entrepreneurship in emerging economies at the individual level as well as the role of entrepreneurs’ social capital in the emerging economy context. Furthermore, it considers the scale and impact of the repatriation of human and social capital from abroad, which is found to play an important role in entrepreneurship in many emerging economies, especially when considering innovation. The survey goes on to provide a macro-level analysis, with cross-country comparisons of the effects of institutions and finance on entrepreneurial activity in emerging markets. It concludes by suggesting avenues for future research.

The Person in Social Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Review of Research on the Social Entrepreneurial Personality

by Ute Stephan and Andreana Drencheva

Wiley Handbook of Entrepreneurship

We present a systematic review of 50 empirical studies on the social entrepreneurial personality.... more We present a systematic review of 50 empirical studies on the social entrepreneurial personality. We aim to answer 'who social entrepreneurs are' to help understand why certain individuals but not others create social ventures and persist in their choice. The review findings reveal a focus on four distinct aspects of personality: motivations, traits, identities, and skills; and are based on three approaches: describing the personality of social entrepreneurs, comparing them to another group, and relating personality aspects to outcomes such as strategic choices or performance. The findings offer a multi-dimensional and refined account of who social entrepreneurs are. Social entrepreneurs are simultaneously driven by a range of motivations and values which include but are not limited to prosocial concerns. Certain extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are shared by commercial and social entrepreneurs. Social and commercial entrepreneurs also seem to exhibit similar 'entrepreneurial' personality traits and benefit equally from transformational leadership skills. Emerging research points to further distinct 'social traits' and identities. Important avenues for future research include paying attention to heterogeneity among types of social entrepreneurs, encouraging more theory-based research, research relating personality to personal and venture-level outcomes, research that considers more dynamic and contextualized perspectives, as well as research on a potential dark side of the social entrepreneurial personality.

Stephan, U. & Richter, P. G. (2005) Erfolgreiche Unternehmen in Deutschland, Polen, Tschechien & Bulgarien, Bd. 1: Veränderung der Rahmenbedingungen für KMU zwischen 2002/03 und 2004/05 [Successful entrepreneurs in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic & Bulgaria, Vol. 1, Changing framework conditions for SMEs between 2002/03 and 2004/05.]. Dresden: TUD Press.

Stephan, U. & Richter, P. G. (2006) Erfolgreiche Unternehmen in Deutschland, Polen, Tschechien & Bulgarien, Bd. 2: Personen, Strategien, Gesundheit und Erfolg in KMU [Successful entrepreneurs in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic & Bulgaria, Vol. 2, Personality, strategies, health and success in SMEs]. Dresden: TUD Press.

Richter, P. G. & Stephan, U. (2005) Erfolgreiche Unternehmen in Deutschland, Polen, Tschechien & Bulgarien, Bd. 3: Ansätze und Möglichkeiten der Verbesserung der Bedingungen für KMU [Successful entrepreneurs in Germany, Poland, Czech Republic & Bulgaria, Vol. 3, Supporting and training SMEs]. Dresden: TUD Press.

Lukes, M., Novy, I., Jarosova, E., Morris, M., Stephan, U. & Winn, J. (2005). Psychologie Podnikani [Psychology of Entrepreneurship]. Praha: Management Press.

Practice What You Preach: Instructors As Transformational Leaders In Higher Education Classrooms

by Paul Balwant and Ute Stephan

Instructor-leadership can be defined as the process by which teachers direct classroom activiti... more Instructor-leadership can be defined as the process by which teachers direct classroom activities so as to influence students’ engagement and achievement. Instructor-leadership in higher education research has focused on the dominant theory of transformational leadership. This paper proposes a context- sensitive measure of transformational leadership specifically adapted to the unique situation of instructors in higher- education institutions. Using a secondary dataset of over 2,700 students across the UK, the results of a principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis indicated three transformational instructor-leadership dimensions including consideration, intellectual stimulation, and path-to-goals. Each of the three dimensions was strongly related to a different learning outcome. An additional independent validation study confirmed the validity of the new measure vis-à-vis established context-independent measures and outcomes of transformational leadership. This paper extends research on both transformational leadership and transformational instructor-leadership by highlighting the importance of using a context-specific approach, examining the impact of each leadership dimension separately, and investigating relationships to novel learning outcomes. Suggestions for future research and practical implications are discussed.

Organizational behavior and human resource management perspectives on entrepreneurship: Lessons learned and new directions

Personnel Psychology, 2024

This special issue of Personnel Psychology is devoted to micro-based research on entrepreneurship... more This special issue of Personnel Psychology is devoted to micro-based research on entrepreneurship, an emerging field that heretofore has been highly influenced by scholars in economics, strategy, and sociology. A theme of this special issue is that to further advance research on entrepreneurship, we need to develop a greater understanding of the role of individuals and teams in entrepreneurial activity from an OB/HR perspective. Accordingly, the goals of our overview article are twofold. First, we summarize the articles in the special issue, which address a number of important micro topics, including HRM practices in the entrepreneurial firm, leadership, identity, teams, well-being, diversity/equity/inclusion, and careers and hiring. These articles are based on a variety of research methods and data sources from multiple nations. Second, we identify additional important topics for OB/HR scholars who are interested in conducting research on entrepreneurship. They include a global perspective, the bright versus dark side of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship and STEM workers, and genetic and biological determinants. We conclude with a consideration of methodological and research design issues.

How entrepreneurs influence their employees' job satisfaction: The double-edged sword of proactive personality

Journal of Business Research, 2024

This paper aims to enhance our understanding of work and wellbeing in the entrepreneurial society... more This paper aims to enhance our understanding of work and wellbeing in the entrepreneurial society. We integrate research on proactive personality (PP) and job design to explore how entrepreneurs' PP impacts their employees' job satisfaction by shaping employee job design in a multi-source multilevel study of 43 entrepreneurs/firms and 511 of their employees. In contexts of firm instability, entrepreneurs' PP was negatively associated with employee job satisfaction due to higher employee job demands. In stable firms, PP related positively to employee job satisfaction due to higher employee job control and social support. We replicate these findings for mental health as a broader indicator of employee wellbeing. Our study extends research on entrepreneur PP by considering its effect on employees. It advances understanding of the bright and dark sides of PP for others in the organization, and contributes new insights on the origins of job design and the quality of work in entrepreneurled firms.

Beyond the lone hero: How interpersonal feedback seeking helps entrepreneurs to engage with their social environment

by Ute Stephan and Malcolm Patterson

Applied Psychology: An international Review, 2024

Entrepreneurs are often depicted as lone heroes. However, they are encouraged to seek and use fee... more Entrepreneurs are often depicted as lone heroes. However, they are encouraged to seek and use feedback from their social environment to refine their venture ideas and enhance performance. Surprisingly, systematic research on entrepreneurs' feedback-seeking is in its infancy, and this nascent research is marked by conceptual vagueness about the feedback-seeking process and the limitations of related concepts. This article leverages the rich research on feedback seeking from organizational behavior/applied psychology to explicate the nature of entrepreneurs' interpersonal feedback seeking while considering the specific demands of entrepreneurship. We delineate feedback seeking from related concepts and theorize a process model of how entrepreneurs seek feedback to pursue instrumental, ego, symbolic, and relational goals, resulting in outcomes not only for entrepreneurs but also for their ventures and immediate and wider social environments. This article provides a foundation for research on entrepreneurs' feedback seeking that is attentive to their personal goals and vulnerabilities while also considering the impact of this process on their social environment. Our conceptual model also offers new insights for organizational behavior/applied psychology research on feedback seeking in relation to the future of work.

“I can't get it out of my mind” - Why, how, and when crisis rumination leads entrepreneurs to act and pivot during crises

by Bach Nguyen and Ute Stephan

Journal of Business Venturing, 2024

Why do some entrepreneurs pivot their business models in a crisis, while others are more passive?... more Why do some entrepreneurs pivot their business models in a crisis, while others are more passive? Integrating Conservation of Resources theory with work on crisis rumination, we developed a micro-level model to explain why entrepreneurs who are under strain due to a crisis, as indicated by experiencing crisis rumination, adopt an active approachi.e., using active coping and engaging in pivoting. Moreover, prevention-focused entrepreneurs who are habitually more sensitive to losses are especially stimulated by crisis rumination to pivot to prevent (further) resource losses. We tested our model in an experiment and an eight-month longitudinal study with entrepreneurs during an inflation crisis.

Cross-Cultural Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2022

How can culture help explain persistent crosscountry differences in innovation and entrepreneursh... more How can culture help explain persistent crosscountry differences in innovation and entrepreneurship? This overview of cross-cultural innovation/ entrepreneurship research draws on the most prominent cultural frameworks (by Hofstede, Schwartz, GLOBE, and Gelfand and colleagues). After outlining similarities and differences between these frameworks, I discuss theoretical perspectives of how culture shapes innovation/entrepreneurship (culture fit, culture misfit, cultural social support, and culture as a boundary condition) and give an overview of empirical research on culture and innovation/entrepreneurship. I conclude by outlining opportunities and best practices for future research and practical implications.

The impact of entrepreneurship research on other academic fields

Small Business Economics, 2023

The remarkable ascent of entrepreneurship witnessed as a scientific field over the last 4 decades... more The remarkable ascent of entrepreneurship witnessed as a scientific field over the last 4 decades has been made possible by entrepreneurship’s ability to absorb theories, paradigms, and methods from other fields such as economics, psychology, sociology, geography, and even biology. The respectability of entrepreneurship as an academic discipline is now evidenced by many other fields starting to borrow from the entrepreneurship view. In the present paper, seven examples are given from this “pay back” development. These examples were first presented during a seminar at the Erasmus Entrepreneurship Event called what has the entrepreneurship view to offer to other academic fields? This article elaborates on the core ideas of these presentations and focuses on the overarching question of how entrepreneurship research impacts the development of other academic fields. We found that entrepreneurship research questions the core assumptions of other academic fields and provides new insights into the antecedents, mechanisms, and consequences of their respective core phenomena. Moreover, entrepreneurship research helps to legitimize other academic fields both practically and academically.

Let's Focus on Solutions to Entrepreneurial Ill-Being! Recovery Interventions to Enhance Entrepreneurial Well-Being

by Amanda Jasmine Williamson, J. Jeffrey Gish, and Ute Stephan

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

Entrepreneurship is uniquely stressful. Entrepreneurs often cannot avoid entrepreneurial stressor... more Entrepreneurship is uniquely stressful. Entrepreneurs often cannot avoid entrepreneurial stressors (e.g., uncertainty, workload, resource constraints) and these stressors can deter natural recovery activities (e.g., detachment and sleep). Yet, entrepreneurs may be able to lessen the negative impact of stress on their well-being, health, and productivity by engaging in recovery. In this editorial, we outline how scholars can employ recovery interventions to ameliorate some of entrepreneurship's ill effects and support entrepreneurs' health, well-being, and productivity. We aim to move the focus of scholarly inquiry from documenting the health and well-being challenges of entrepreneurs, toward identifying and implementing solutions to support entrepreneurs.

FROM MICROSCOPIC TO MACROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVES AND BACK: THE STUDY OF LEADERSHIP AND HEALTH/WELL-BEING

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2021

This special issue introduces a set of papers that contribute to research on leadership and healt... more This special issue introduces a set of papers that contribute to research on leadership and health/well-being from multiple perspectives. To situate these papers in current research debates, this introduction to the special issue provides an overview of research on leadership and health/well-being by using a microscope-macroscope perspective as an organizing framework. The microscope-macroscope organizing framework highlights that a comprehensive understanding of leadership and well-being requires researchers to include multiple perspectives, including those of leaders and followers, embedded in their context and time. It encourages researchers to transcend more narrow input-process-output perspectives that are typically adopted when studying leadership, health and well-being.

Happy Entrepreneurs? Everywhere? A Meta-Analysis of Entrepreneurship and Wellbeing across Institutional Contexts

Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 2023

Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish ... more Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling and enhance wellbeing, but also highly stressful and diminish wellbeing. This meta-analytical review synthesizes 319 effect sizes from 94 studies and 82 countries to establish whether individuals derive greater wellbeing from working for themselves or for someone else. The answer is partly positive in favor of entrepreneurship but depends on the components of wellbeing under investigation (positive wellbeing or negative wellbeing/mental illbeing) and the institutional context (especially the rule of law). We contribute by developing the component view of wellbeing as an organizing framework and by advancing an institutional perspective to guide research on entrepreneurs' wellbeing.

The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship Research

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2021

The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of ... more The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of entrepreneurship. This trend is aligned with the general interest in the biology of management studies as evidenced by the more than 300 articles already published (Nofal et al., 2018). It illustrates the progression of science along two dimensions. First is the drive to seek smaller units of analyses to identify the core mechanisms of action. Second is the opposing drive to seek larger units of analyses to identify general principles. These simultaneous processes move our understanding of social and natural phenomena closer to a unified theory. In this note, we reflect on how the biology of why, how, what, when, and where of entrepreneurship represents a natural progression from the institutional, organizational, and psychological explanations. We call this the biological perspective in entrepreneurship (BPE), which is illustrated by the papers in this volume. We examine the key domains of inquiry, various methodologies, and reflect on the directions that future research should take. We define the BPE as the body of research that examines the role of genetics (Nicolaou & Shane, 2009), physiology (White et al., 2007), neuroscience (de Holan, 2014; Shane et al., 2020), and neurodevelopmental conditions (Lerner et al., 2018; Wiklund et al., 2017) in entrepreneurial behavior. We next clarify the conceptual and theoretical boundaries of the BPE. BPE research is, by definition, multidisciplinary (genomics, physiology, neuroscience, clinical psychology) and multilevel (high order phenomena (occupational choice, entrepreneurial performance) explained by lower order mechanisms (e.g., neurotransmitters), which can cause confusion when scholars from different disciplinary traditions collaborate. First, the theorized associations between biology and entrepreneurship are probabilistic, not deterministic. Further, to attribute causality in these associations is premature or even wrong. At the broadest level, biology does not cause people to become entrepreneurs. Speculations concerning the biology-behavior complex go back at least 200 years to the pseudoscience of phre-nology (Colbert, 1997). As Shane and Nicolaou (2015a) put it, "biological factors influence all aspects of human behavior and are solely responsible for none of them" [italics added]. The key word is influence. Research in this domain should be about unpacking the relative strengths and

Environmental Innovation and Firm Performance: How Firm Size and Motives Matter

by Petra Andries and Ute Stephan

Sustainability, 2019

There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-suc... more There is limited understanding of the precise circumstances under which environmental actions-such as environmental innovation-contribute to firm performance. Building on the resource-based view and on stakeholder theory, this study argues that the general positive effect of environmental innovation on financial performance varies significantly with firm size and the motives underlying a firm's engagement in environmental innovation. Integrating survey data and lagged annual account data on 1761 Flemish companies, we find that larger firms benefit financially from environmental innovation driven by regulation or industry codes of conduct, while smaller firms benefit from environmental innovation introduced in response to customer demand. While it is increasingly accepted that environmental innovation relates positively with firm performance, the current study highlights important boundary conditions of this relationship.

Entrepreneurs' stressors and well-being: A recovery perspective and diary study

Journal of Business Venturing, 2020

Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintai... more Although entrepreneurs are said to have extremely stressful work, how they may be able to maintain their well-being in light of this is only poorly understood. Newly integrating the challenge-hindrance stressor framework with the stressor-detachment model of recovery from work stress, we investigate how specific challenge and hindrance stressors—cognitive and emotional demands—impact entrepreneurs' well-being by influencing their ability to detach and recover from work stress. Our diary study yielded 386 day-pair data points from 55 entrepreneurs. Challenge and hindrance stressors inhibited psychological detachment from work in the evening through increasing problem-solving pondering and work-related affective rumination, which diminished entrepreneurs' well-being the next morning. These effects are robust to alternative explanations (e.g., objectively measured sleep efficiency) and differ from relationships observed across entrepreneurs. Our findings elucidate the nature of stressors and the micro-foundational mechanisms of stress and recovery.

Goal Multiplicity and Innovation: How Social and Economic Goals Affect Open Innovation and Innovation Performance

by Ute Stephan and Alain Daou

Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2019

Integrating insights from the strategic goal literature and the knowledge-based view of the firm,... more Integrating insights from the strategic goal literature and the knowledge-based view of the firm, this study proposes that the pursuit of social and economic strategic goals by commercial firms affects their innovation performance through different knowledge-sourcing activities. The strategic goals, knowledge-sourcing practices, and innovation performance of 1257 Belgian firms are investigated. Results show that both social and economic strategic goals are associated with the use of external information sources, but only the pursuit of social goals inspires firms to engage in external collaboration. No evidence is found of an inherent conflict between social and economic strategic goals. Instead, the two types of goals are independent of each other, i.e., an emphasis on social goals does not preclude an emphasis on economic goals and vice versa. Moreover, firms’ external knowledge sourcing and innovation performance benefit most when strongly held social goals align with strongly held economic goals. These findings offer new insight into the nature and the effects of goal multiplicity among commercial firms. They open up a new perspective on the potential positive effects of the joint pursuit of social and economic strategic goals instead of seeing them as inherently conflicting, as past research has typically done. We illustrate how social strategic goals can deliver unique benefits to a firm, independently of and in addition to economic strategic goals. Our findings also contribute to the open innovation literature by revealing strategic goals as a driver of firms’ knowledge-sourcing practices. Our findings suggest that solely emphasizing economic goals may be one reason why firms struggle to implement open innovation practices and do not reap their full benefits. The practical implications of our research are discussed.

The Value of Values for Understanding Organizational Life: Editor's Introduction to the Lead Article

Applied Psychology, 2020

In this introduction to the lead article on “Values at Work”, I summarize key points made in the ... more In this introduction to the lead article on “Values at Work”, I summarize key points made in the lead article and its commentaries including those relating to the mechanisms and boundary conditions of value‐behavior relationships. I highlight links with the organizational and management literature, which pays increasing attention to the role of values in organizations. I note that there are many synergies yet to be explored between, on the one hand, work on values traditionally rooted in social and cross‐cultural psychology and as represented by the lead article and commentaries and, on the other hand, management and organizational research. One example is research on the values of strategic leaders and viewing values as decision making standards that can shape organizations and their management.

ENTREPRENEURS' MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING: A REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

Academy of Management Perspectives, 2018

Interest in entrepreneurs' mental health and well-being (MWB) is growing in recognition of the ro... more Interest in entrepreneurs' mental health and well-being (MWB) is growing in recognition of the role of MWB in entrepreneurs' decision-making, motivation and action. Yet relevant knowledge is dispersed across disciplines, which makes it unclear what we currently understand about entrepreneurs' MWB. In this systematic review I integrate insights from 144 empirical studies. These studies show that research is focused on three research questions: (1) Do different types of entrepreneur differ in their MWB? What are the (2) antecedents and (3) consequences of entrepreneurs' MWB? The review systematizes evidence on known antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs' MWB but also reveals overlooked and undertheorized sources and outcomes of entrepreneurs' MWB. The review provides a mapping and framework that advance research on entrepreneurs' MWB and help to position entrepreneurs' MWB more centrally in management and entrepreneurship research. It calls for researchers to go beyond applying models developed for employees to understand entrepreneurs' MWB. Instead, the findings point the way to developing a dedicated theory of entrepreneurial work and MWB that is dynamic, socialized, open to considering context, and acknowledges variability and fluidity across entrepreneurs' life domains, as well as the centrality of work for entrepreneurs' identity.

Human capital in social and commercial entrepreneurship

by Tomasz Mickiewicz and Ute Stephan

We advance research on human capital and entrepreneurial entry and posit that, in order to genera... more We advance research on human capital and entrepreneurial entry and posit that, in order to generate value, social entrepreneurship requires different configurations of human capital than commercial entrepreneurship. We develop a multilevel framework to analyse the com-monalities and differences between social and commercial entrepreneurship, including the impact of general and specific human capital, of national context and its moderating effect on the human capital-entrepreneurship relationship. We find that specific entrepreneurial human capital is relatively more important in commercial entrepreneurship, and general human capital in social entrepreneurship, and that the effects of human capital depend on the rule of law.