The impact of economic crisis on highimpact entrepreneurship: evidence from Brazil

• Ano de defesa: 2020
• Autor(a) principal: Kleber, Julia Katharina
• Orientador(a): Campello, Daniela
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Português: High-Impact Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Economic Crisis; Determinants of Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Perceptions; Entrepreneurial Growth; Innovativeness
• Link de acesso: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/33620

Purpose - This study aims to analyze the impact of an economic crisis on high-impact entrepreneurship (HIE), using Brazil and the country’s 2014 crisis as a case. The determinants of HIE will be analyzed and their effects compared in two periods – before and during the crisis. I expect that the impacts of the HIE determinants on HIE are stronger within the crisis period. Methodology – I conducted a logistic regression analysis, using data from the Adult Population Survey (APS) provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The thesis studies attributes of the individual entrepreneur’s perceptions, the sociodemographic background, and factors on environmental dynamics. The data is divided into a non-crisis and a crisis period. Findings – Only some effects of HIE determinants are stronger during the crisis, and the results vary among the periods and HIE dimensions. Thus, the hypothesis cannot be accepted. However, I find that entrepreneurs with high levels of education, or who are driven into entrepreneurship by economic necessity and not by a business opportunity, are more likely to be innovative during the crisis. Also, during the crisis, the fear of failure decreases the likelihood of an entrepreneur to present intentions to grow its business. Moreover, wealthier entrepreneurs seem to be generally more likely to engage in HIE. Having a good network and using new technologies seem to be the strongest determinants of HIE in the crisis period. Research Limitations - The research is limited by the dependency on the GEM’s framework, its data collection design, and method and by the subjectivity of individual entrepreneurs’ responses. Moreover, the small size of subgroups within the samples leads to lower confidence. Practical Implications – To mitigate the effects of a crisis on HIE, the public and private sector should provide educational programs and training to entrepreneurs that focus on innovation. Networking initiatives and events should be developed for entrepreneurs to strengthen their networks and to exploit the inherent benefits. Initiative designs may also distinguish between the different levels of innovativeness among opportunity-driven and necessity-driven entrepreneurs. Also, the reasons causing fear of failure in entrepreneurs should be analyzed and classified to offer more tailored countermeasures. Originality: To my knowledge, no similar analysis of the effects of a crisis on HIE exists using Brazil as a case study and contextualizing the country’s entrepreneurial characteristics.