The recognition of business opportunities is the first stage in the entrepreneurial process. This article analyses the effects of individuals’ possession of and access to knowledge on the probability of recognizing good business opportunities in their area of residence. The authors use an eclectic theoretical framework, consisting of intellectual and social capital concepts. In particular, they analyse the role of individuals’ educational level, their perception that they have the right knowledge and skills to start a business, whether they own and manage a firm, their contacts with other entrepreneurs, and whether they have been business angels. The hypotheses proposed here are tested using data collected for the GEM project in Spain in 2007. The results show that individuals’ access to external knowledge through the social networks in which they participate, is fundamental for developing the capacity to recognize new business opportunities.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the existence of and access to different work-family policies on employee well-being (EWB) and job performance.Design/methodology/approach: Hypothesis testing was performed using a structural equation model based on a PLS-SEM approach applied to a sample of 1,511 employees of the Spanish banking sector.Findings: The results obtained demonstrate that the existence and true access to different types of work-family policies such as flexible working hours (flexi-time), long leaves, and flexible work location (flexi-place) are not directly related to job performance, but indirectly so, when mediated by the well-being of employees generated by work-family policies. In a similar vein, true access to employee and family support services also has an indirect positive impact on job performance mediated by the well-being produced. In contrast, the mere existence of employee and family support services does not have any direct or indirect effect on job performance.Originality/value: This study makes a theoretical and empirical contribution to better understand the impact that of the existence of and access to work-family policies on job performance mediated by EWB. In this sense, the authors posited and tested an unpublished theoretical model where the concept of EWB gains special relevance at academic and organizational level due to its implications for human resource management.

When studying entrepreneur’s intentions, researchers have mainly relied on the theory of planned behaviour model developed by Ajzen (1991. “The Theory of Planned Behavior.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50 (2): 179–211) which includes personal variables such as subjective norms, attitude and perception of behavioural control. However, it may be affected, mediated or moderated by other variables or situational factors that influence the relationships between these predictors and intention. The aim of the present study is to analyse the moderating effect of attitudes on the link between the perception of behavioural control and intentions. For this purpose, Partial Least Squares Structural Equations Modeling (PLS-SEM) were used in a sample of 654 last year students from an Spanish University. The results highlight the important role that attitudes play as moderator of business intentions, since the direct effect of perceived control behaviour on intentions increases as attitudes increase. It is also worthy to stress the positive effect that the learning process and subjective norms have on entrepreneurs perceived control behaviour.