Factors Influencing Entrepreneurship Choice and The Well-being of Entrepreneurs in Different Cultural Contexts

Entrepreneurship is a key driver of economic growth. Although there is general agreement on its importance, there are a variety of opinions on what triggers and sustains entrepreneurial activity. Furthermore, as policy makers become more aware that economic policies should not only be assessed based on economic outcomes but also on their ability to improve well-being of the society, the issue of well-being of entrepreneurs also becomes a critical issue to be investigated. Moreover, the fact that entrepreneurs are a very heterogeneous group that may range from Elon Musk on one extreme to a young man collecting waste paper to sell it, shows us that we need to differentiate between opportunity entrepreneurs which have become entrepreneurs to follow a dream and necessity entrepreneurs that had to become self-employed due to lack of alternative forms of employment available. This dissertation consists of two studies. The first study analyzes three groups of motivational factors affecting entrepreneurship and perceptions of opportunity for entrepreneurs: social, cultural, and economic factors. Hence, Study One uses data from the “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor” (GEM) Project to analyze the factors motivating entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. Uncertainty Avoidance level of the countries are also investigated to see if it influences the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur. The study uses entrepreneurship data from GEM data set for 54 countries and matches the uncertainty avoidance value for each country from Hofstede dataset (2011). The purpose of Study Two is to show how autonomy, competence and meaningful work serves as mechanisms through which opportunity entrepreneurship leads to higher levels of well-being, and how this relationship may be altered by the country’s level of individualism. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 37 countries and 14,514 individuals that are active in early stage entrepreneurship are used to investigate the relationship between opportunity entrepreneurship and well-being. To account for the nested nature of our data, we use a multilevel model to assess how factors of autonomy and competence as components of self-determination and meaningful work as a component of decent work mediate the opportunity entrepreneurship and well-being relationship. We also test the moderating effects of individualism cultural dimension at the country level on the relationship between opportunity entrepreneurship and well-being.