Search results

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of one productive development program (PROPYME) in a developing nation like Costa Rica. This program seeks to increase the capacity of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) to innovate.

Impacts have been estimated assuming that beneficiary firms are trying to maximize their profits and that PROPYME aims to increase these firms productivity. The impacts were measured in terms of three result variables real average wages employment demand and the probability of exporting. A combination of fixed effects and propensity score matching techniques was used in estimations to correct for any selection bias. The authors worked with panel data companies treated and untreated for the period 2001-2011.

PROPYME’s beneficiaries performed better than other firms in terms of labor demand and their probability of exporting. In addition, the dose and the duration of the effects of the treatment (timing effects) are important.

The authors study the impact in ways that go beyond the average treatment effects on the treated (ATT) usually estimated in the existing literature. Specifically, the research focusses on the identification of the timing or dynamic effects (i.e. how long should we wait to see results?) and treatment intensity (dosage effects).

Se estima el impacto de un programa de desarrollo productivo (Propyme) en un país en vías de desarrollo como Costa Rica. El Propyme busca incrementar la capacidad innovadora de las pequeñas y medidas empresas (pymes) costarricenses.

el impacto se ha estimado y evaluado asumiendo que las pymes beneficiaras buscan maximizar sus beneficios y que Propyme se enfoca en incrementar la productividad de esas empresas. El impacto se valoró en función de tres variables: salarios reales medios, empleo demandado y la probabilidad de exportar. Se utilizó una combinación de técnicas de efectos fijos y emparejamiento en las estimaciones con el fin de prevenir sesgos de selección. Se trabajó con un panel de datos, incluyendo empresas tratadas (beneficiarias de Propyme) así como no tratadas para el periodo 2001-2011.

los beneficiarios de Propyme tuvieron mejor desempeño que las restantes empresas en términos de empleo demandado y su posibilidad de exportar. Adicionalmente los efectos dinámicos (dosis y duración) de los tratamientos son importantes.

este artículo evalúa el impacto de una forma que va más allá de lo usual en la literatura por medio de los efectos promedios de los tratamientos sobre los beneficiarios. Esto por cuanto se enfoca en efectos dinámicos como la duración así como la intensidad.

The aim of this study is to examine the influence of locus of control, the university environment and the social environment on the entrepreneurial attitude of female Latin American university students.

The study applies a quan–qual design. The quan section analyzes the data of 10,781 female university students from 11 Latin American countries included in the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students Survey 2018. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was applied. The qual section applies in-depth interviews for sequential methodological triangulation analysis.

The evidence indicates that locus of control, the university environment and the social environment positively impact the entrepreneurial attitude of female Latin American university students. The most influential factor was locus of control.

This empirical study focuses on female university students and their propensity for business venturing and determines the main influences on their entrepreneurial attitudes.

Este estudio tiene como objetivo examinar la influencia del locus de control, el entorno universitario y el entorno social en la actitud emprendedora de las estudiantes universitarias latinoamericanas.

El estudio aplica un diseño quan–qual. La sección quan analiza los datos de 10.781 estudiantes universitarias latinoamericanas de once países, incluidas en la Encuesta Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students Survey 2018. Se aplicó un análisis de regresión jerárquica múltiple. La sección cualitativa aplica entrevistas en profundidad para un análisis de triangulación metodológica secuencial.

La evidencia indica que el locus de control, el entorno universitario y el entorno social impactan positivamente en la actitud emprendedora de las estudiantes universitarias latinoamericanas. El factor más influyente fue el locus de control.

Este estudio empírico se centra en las estudiantes universitarias y su propensión a emprender y determina las principales influencias de su actitud emprendedora.

Este estudo tem como objetivo examinar a influência do locus de controle, ambiente universitário e ambiente social na atitude empreendedora de estudantes universitárias latino-americanas.

O estudo aplica um desenho Quan-qual. A seção Quan analisa os dados de 10.781 universitárias latino-americanas de onze países, incluídas na Pesquisa GUESSS, 2018. Foi aplicada uma análise de regressão múltipla hierárquica. A seção qual aplica entrevistas em profundidade para uma análise de triangulação metodológica sequencial.

As evidências indicam que o locus de controle, o ambiente universitário e o ambiente social impactam positivamente a atitude empreendedora das universitárias latino-americanas. O fator mais influente foi um locus de controle.

Este estudo empírico centra-se nas estudantes universitárias e na sua propensão para um empreendimento empresarial e determina as principais influências da sua atitude empreendedora.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue “The Entrepreneurship Challenges in Latin America”.

Latin America and the Caribbean is a region with many potentialities. Like one of the largest markets in the world, entrepreneurship activities can constitute a key element to enhance regional competitiveness.

This study makes a general overview of entrepreneurship dynamics in Latin America and its contexts. This study presents the eight manuscripts that constitute the special issue.

This study contributes to current academic conversations and highlights the relevance of continuing inquiring about the entrepreneurship phenomena at the regional level.

This study expects that this special issue will help the region’s scholarly entrepreneurship community and others interested in Latin America. This study also believes that this special issue manuscript makes a relevant contribution to policy and practice.

Building on the resource-based view theory, this paper aims to evaluate the role of innovation on competitiveness and competitive efficiency among Costa Rican small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

The study uses a sample of 231 Costa Rican small and medium-size firms for 2019. The authors compute a competitiveness index that includes four pillars: innovation, strategy, markets and human capital. To estimate competitive efficiency, the authors use a non-parametric model, namely, data envelopment analysis, with a single constant input.

The results confirm that competitive and efficient SMEs present a more homogenous distribution of resources and capabilities. The innovation pillar is positively correlated with competitive efficiency. A positive correlation exists between market experience (business age) and innovation and between innovation and business size in terms of the number of employees.

The study contributes to the understanding on how SME managers’ decision-making processes affect resource allocation within the business, and on how SMEs can introduce strategic actions based on improvements of those resources that will likely have a greater impact on competitive efficiency.

This study contributes to better grasping how the configuration of resources and capabilities, in which innovation plays a decisive role, and contributes to shape the competitive efficiency of small and medium-sized businesses in a developing economy.

This paper analyses how contextual factors at universities (entrepreneurship education and program learning) and cognitive variables (perceived behavioral control, implementation intentions, and attitude) influence entrepreneurial intentions among Latin American university students.

The empirical analysis employs a multilevel (hierarchical) linear model with a sample size of 9012 university students taken in 2018 from nine Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Panamá, and Uruguay.

Overall, the university context and cognitive variables contribute to explaining entrepreneurial intentions in university students. Whereas program learning constitutes a variable that directly and indirectly explains entrepreneurial intentions among university students, attending entrepreneurship courses negatively influences their entrepreneurial intentions.

A central premise of this study is that the entrepreneurial process in university students is a multilevel phenomenon, given that university context and cognitive variables are key factors in entrepreneurial intentions. The findings support this premise and contribute to the existing literature on entrepreneurship in emerging economies. Nevertheless, the results reveal a more nuanced picture regarding the role of university context on the entrepreneurial intentions of students.

Este artículo analiza cómo las variables del contexto universitario (educación emprendedora y aprendizaje adquirido) y las variables cognitivas (control de conducta percibido, intenciones de implementación y actitud) influyen en la intención emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios latinoamericanos.

El análisis empírico es por medio de un modelo lineal multinivel (jerárquico) con una muestra de 9012 estudiantes universitarios de nueve países latinoamericanos, a saber: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Panamá, y Uruguay.

En general, el contexto universitario y las variables cognitivas contribuyen a explicar la intención empresarial de los estudiantes universitarios. Mientras que el aprendizaje adquirido (program learning) constituye una variable que explica la intención emprendedora de los estudiantes universitarios directa e indirectamente, matricular cursos de emprendimiento influye negativamente en su intención emprendedora.

Una premisa central en este estudio es que el proceso emprendedor de los estudiantes universitarios es un fenómeno multinivel, resultando el contexto universitario y las variables cognitivas factores clave para explicar la intención emprendedora. Nuestros resultados apoyan esta premisa y contribuyen a la literatura sobre emprendimiento en países emergentes. No obstante, nuestros resultados revelan una imagen más matizada del papel del contexto universitario en la intención empresarial de los estudiantes universitarios.

This study aims to address the effects of self-esteem and affective commitment on firm performance and whether these effects vary according to the gender and age of active entrepreneurial students.

This study uses a subsample from the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) of entrepreneur students running their own businesses to perform a structural equation model (SEM) analysis to test the relationship between self-esteem (SE), affective commitment (AC) and firm performance (FP) moderated by the gender and age of entrepreneur students.

The results confirm that higher levels of entrepreneur SE are related to a higher assessment of AC and FP. A major effect of SE on AC was also observed among male respondents. Age was not related to an increase in AC. The effect of SE on AC and FP was lower among older students.

This study makes valuable contributions to the fields of entrepreneurship, psychology, gender and organizational behavior. This study presents empirical support for the theoretical framework using SEM, presenting initial insights into the mechanisms that shape AC in entrepreneurial students and its implications for FP.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo analizar la influencia del género, la edad y la autoestima (SE) de los emprendedores en el compromiso afectivo (AC) de los estudiantes universitarios con sus emprendimientos y cómo se relacionan con el desempeño subjetivo de la empresa (FP).

Utilizamos los datos de la encuesta GUESSS de 2018 para realizar un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) para determinar los efectos directos del género, la edad y la SE en el AC, sus efectos directos e indirectos en el FP y los efectos directos y papel mediador del AC hacia el FP, para estudiantes emprendedores.

Los resultados confirman que niveles más altos de SE están relacionados con niveles más altos de AC de los emprendedores a sus emprendimientos y una mayor evaluación de FP. Además, los hombres reportan niveles más altos de AC y FP que sus contrapartes femeninas, al tiempo que el género tiene un efecto importante en la relación del SE en el AC. La edad no está relacionada con el aumento del AC, pero el efecto de la SE sobre el AC disminuye con el incremento de la edad, y los valores de FP también se reducen para los estudiantes mayores en comparación con los estudiantes más jóvenes. Los niveles más altos de AC están relacionados con valores más altos de FP, y existe un efecto de mediación de AC para el género y SE sobre FP.

este estudio proporciona valiosas contribuciones a los campos del emprendimiento, la psicología, el género y el comportamiento organizacional. Primero, presentamos un marco teórico que integra postulados de emprendimiento FP, AC, SE, edad y género. Luego, probamos empíricamente nuestro marco teórico utilizando SEM y presentamos resultados iniciales sobre los mecanismos que dan forma al AC en estudiantes emprendedores y sus implicaciones para el FP.

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar a influência do gênero, da idade e da autoestima (SE) dos empreendedores no comprometimento afetivo (AC) dos universitários com seus empreendimentos e como eles se relacionam com o desempenho subjetivo da empresa (FP).

Utilizamos dados da pesquisa GUESSS de 2018 para realizar uma modelagem de equações estruturais (SEM) para determinar os efeitos diretos de gênero, idade e SE na AC, seus efeitos diretos e indiretos no FP e os efeitos diretos e papel mediador do AC na FP, para estudantes empreendedores.

Os resultados confirmam que níveis mais elevados de SE estão relacionados com níveis mais elevados de AC dos empreendedores para os seus empreendimentos e uma maior avaliação do FP. Além disso, os homens relatam níveis mais elevados de AC e FP do que as mulheres, embora tenham um efeito importante da SE na AC. A idade não está relacionada com o aumento da AC, mas o efeito do SE na AC diminui com o aumento da idade, e os valores de FP também diminuem para os alunos mais velhos em comparação com os alunos mais jovens. Níveis mais elevados de AC estão relacionados a valores mais elevados de FP, e há efeito mediador da AC para gênero e SE sobre FP.

Este estudo fornece contribuições valiosas para as áreas de empreendedorismo, psicologia, gênero e comportamento organizacional. Primeiro, apresentamos um quadro teórico que integra postulados de empreendedorismo em FP, AC, SE, idade e género. Em seguida, testamos empiricamente o nosso enquadramento teórico utilizando SEM e apresentamos resultados iniciais sobre os mecanismos que moldam o AC em estudantes empreendedores e as suas implicações para o FP.

This paper aims to assess knowledge relatedness as a possible determinant of business innovation performance. Knowledge relatedness is understood as the degree of similarity between a firm’s knowledge and that of its parent, i.e. the company that the entrepreneur leaves to establish his or her own firm. Innovation performance results from the competitive position that the company achieves through its management of new products and services on the market.

For the empirical work, the authors used a database composed of 356 entrepreneurs who established recently their own business in Costa Rica: people who stopped working in multinational companies in Costa Rica and created their own businesses, and people who created their own businesses simultaneously as the former employees of multinationals.

This paper reports a positive and significant correlation between knowledge relatedness and innovation performance for a number of young firms.

This paper presents the fact of including knowledge relatedness as a research topic linked to business innovation.

This study evaluates the relationship between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and business competitiveness in four different contexts (i.e. France, Spain, Hungary and Costa Rica).

The study uses a sample of 348 manufacturing and knowledge-intensive business service firms operating in four countries with different entrepreneurial ecosystems (France, Spain, Costa Rica and Hungary) for 2019. Firm competitiveness is computed via the “benefit-of-the-doubt” (BOD) method, and a multilevel model is employed to assess the connection between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and firm competitiveness.

The results of the multilevel model indicate that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is related to firm competitiveness, while the BOD results suggest that firms operating in settings with a more consolidated entrepreneurial ecosystem are better able to realize the outcomes of strategic choices linked to the exploitation of key resources and capabilities. Country-specific results suggest that “human capital” is the most relevant competitive pillar prioritized by all sampled businesses.

The proposed analysis of the connection between the entrepreneurial ecosystem and business competitiveness in different contexts contributes to the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem frame by offering insights into how the properties of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (i.e. interactions among individuals, organizations and institutions) can produce economically meaningful effects on business performance.

This study explores the mediating role of marketing management in the relationship between online presence and product innovation among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The sample comprises 205 Costa Rican SMEs collected by the Global Competitiveness Project during the first half of 2019. The data were analyzed using a two-stage modeling strategy for ordinary regression models to analyze mediation effects.

Marketing management as a strategic resource or capability accounts for the relationship between online presence and product innovation performance in SMEs, meaning that online presence resources require complementary organizational capabilities in marketing management to enhance product innovation.

This study, grounded in the resource-based view theory, contributes to the innovation field by identifying marketing management capabilities as an intermediate strategic interaction between online presence and product innovation performance in SMEs. Thus, managers should recognize the advantages of integrating marketing management principles and tactics into online presence tools to realize the value of their products by tailoring them to their client’s needs.