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Going the Whole Nine Yards: Founder Social Identities and the Nascent-Active Gap

2019; Academy of Management; Volume: 2019; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5465/ambpp.2019.117

2376-7197

Ilija Braun,

Economic Growth and Development

What makes nascent entrepreneurs more or less likely to complete the founding process and to actually start their business? To address this fundamental question, we draw on founder social identity literature and theorize that having a Darwinian, Communitarian, or Missionary founder social identity, respectively, affects the transition from nascent to active entrepreneurship in distinct ways. Furthermore, we introduce GDP growth as a relevant contingency factor. Using a longitudinal sample of 150 individuals from 17 countries, we reveal that the nascent-active transition is unaffected when nascent entrepreneurs have a Darwinian founder social identity. When they have a Communitarian or Missionary identity, the likelihood of completing the founding process is higher. In addition, we show that higher GDP growth activates a positive effect of being a Darwinian, weakens the effect of being a Communitarian, and leaves the Missionary effect unchanged. Our theorizing and empirical findings provide important contributions to the literature on the nascent-active gap and on founder social identities.