In the present study, we conduct a discourse analysis on a set of longitudinal observations of government venture capitalists’ decisions to identify how gender stereotypes are socially constructed and activated when assessing entrepreneurs’ potential in the financial distribution of venture support. The present study finds that female entrepreneurs risk receiving significantly less venture capital, which is caused by the language and rhetoric used that relates to gender differences when funding decisions are made. We consider and discuss the implications of our results for related research about distributing venture capital and the social constructions of female and male entrepreneurs.

This meta-analysis of 31 studies over 20 years advances our understanding of the gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance. Findings from previous research on the relationship between entrepreneurs’ gender and bank financing are mixed, which suggests the need to pay particular attention to entrepreneurs’ social context. In this study, we develop a model of how social gender norms explain variation in women entrepreneurs’ (vis-à-vis men entrepreneurs’) access to bank finance. Specifically, we theorize how women’s formal (their nations’ political ideologies) and informal (women’s empowerment) social standing within their societies influence gender discrimination in entrepreneurial bank financing. Consistent with most previous studies, our baseline results show that women entrepreneurs’ business loan applications are rejected to a greater extent than men entrepreneurs’ loan applications. Women entrepreneurs also pay higher interest rates on loans than men entrepreneurs. Further, in societies dominated by a conservative (rather than a liberal) political ideology, the positive relationship between women entrepreneurs and loan interest rates is more positive. Interestingly, gender discrimination in loan rejection and interest rates is magnified in societies with greater women’s empowerment. Taking a social gender-norm perspective, our analysis establishes a gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance, and we outline an agenda for further research.

Collaborations in innovation work between competitors have become a common practice in the information and communication technology sector (ICT), and substantial investments are made in such collaborations. Significant rationales for these collaborations include the high expectations placed on rapid and front-edge technology development and business exploitation. However, there is often a failure to reach the expected outcomes of such collaborations. This may be explained not only by the challenges and obstacles in technology development but also by the social relations within the collaborations. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of social exchange in the outcomes of early-stage innovation collaborations. More specifically, we explore the social facilitators of exchange and how such facilitators may influence collaboration outcomes. Social exchange theory is used for this purpose. This longitudinal study is based on a 3-year collaboration project for innovation using qualitative methods (29 interviews, observations of 7 project meetings). Three phases of social exchange in the collaboration are empirically identified: the dating phase, brainstorming phase, and decision phase. Three social facilitators of social exchange within these phases are conceptualized: trust, commitment, and congruence. Further, direct contacts are conceptualized as a social accelerator fueling these social facilitators. This study advances understanding of social facilitators in social exchange and their significance with regard to success/failure outcomes. Risks of lock-in situations in collaborations for innovation are outlined in a knowledge exchange paradox.

Researchers question the impact of governmental venture capitalists (GVC) compared to private venture capitalists (PVC), but we know little about why this difference occurs and if this criticism is justified. We observed a group of GVCs and developed a new model that describes the way that GVCs process signals pre- and post-decisions. Certain macro level factors severely undermine micro level performance, causing GVCs to financially underperform with respect to PVCs. This helped us to understand that GVCs do not make investment decisions in the same way as PVCs, and what undermines the performance of GVCs’ decision-making processes. The main goals of GVCs are to promote investments in responsible SMEs, mobilizing societal impact. We discuss that the criticism of GVC needs to be more nuanced, as they have a different role than PVC in the financial system as providers of sustainable investments in responsible SMEs.

As enterprise education plays a larger role in schools and young individuals increasingly become the target of entrepreneurial and enterprise policy initiatives, there is a growing need to understand how entrepreneurial intentions can be fostered. This study builds on analyses of interviews with young potential entrepreneurs and their young counterparts, delving more deeply into the identity construction that motivates some individuals, but not others, to develop entrepreneurial identities and enterprise intentions. The findings outline two contrasting routes to identity construction, shedding light on how enterprise intentions are motivationally embedded and providing details on the micro-foundations of identity formation that shape these identities and intentions toward enterprise activity.