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Innovative opportunity pursuit, human capital and business ownership experience in an emerging region: evidence from Ghana

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  • Paul Robson
  • Charles Akuetteh
  • Paul Westhead
  • Mike Wright

Abstract

This study explores whether an entrepreneur’s ability to assemble and leverage human capital, particularly specific human capital relating to prior business ownership experience, is associated with seven types of product and work practices innovation in an emerging region, namely, Ghana. Logistic regression estimation revealed that portfolio entrepreneurs were more likely than novice entrepreneurs to report ‘innovation tried’. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that portfolio entrepreneurs were more likely than other entrepreneurs to report ‘innovation tried and introduced’. If the goals of policy are to increase the ‘quality’ of new business start-ups and maximize investment returns, there is a case to target assistance to portfolio entrepreneurs. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Robson & Charles Akuetteh & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2012. "Innovative opportunity pursuit, human capital and business ownership experience in an emerging region: evidence from Ghana," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 603-625, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:39:y:2012:i:3:p:603-625
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-011-9333-8
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    Cited by:

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    2. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph & Adomako, Samuel, 2021. "The effects of knowledge integration and contextual ambidexterity on innovation in entrepreneurial ventures," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 312-321.
    4. Amoako, George K. & Okpattah, Bernard K., 2018. "Unleashing salesforce performance: The impacts of personal branding and technology in an emerging market," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 20-26.
    5. Joern H. Block & Christian O. Fisch & Mirjam van Praag, 2017. "The Schumpeterian entrepreneur: a review of the empirical evidence on the antecedents, behaviour and consequences of innovative entrepreneurship," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 61-95, January.
    6. McGuirk, Helen & Lenihan, Helena & Hart, Mark, 2015. "Measuring the impact of innovative human capital on small firms’ propensity to innovate," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 965-976.
    7. Simon Parker, 2014. "Who become serial and portfolio entrepreneurs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 887-898, December.
    8. A.A. Chursin & A.V. Yudin & P.Yu. Grosheva, 2021. "Intellectual Capital of Technological Transformation of Economy of Industrial Region," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 20(4), pages 641-665.
    9. Farzana Chowdhury & David B. Audretsch, 2024. "Paradoxes of accelerator programs and new venture performance: Do varieties of experiences make a difference?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 381-409, January.
    10. Ganotakis, Panagiotis & D'Angelo, Alfredo & Konara, Palitha, 2021. "From latent to emergent entrepreneurship: The role of human capital in entrepreneurial founding teams and the effect of external knowledge spillovers for technology adoption," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    11. You, Shuyang & Zhou, Kevin Zheng & Jia, Liangding, 2021. "How does human capital foster product innovation? The contingent roles of industry cluster features," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 335-347.
    12. de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Gillert, Nils Lennart & Stock, Ruth M., 2018. "First adoption of consumer innovations: Exploring market failure and alleviating factors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 487-497.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation process outcomes; Human capital; Habitual entrepreneurs; Ghana; L26; O31; J24; O10;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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