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Working for an entrepreneur: heaven or hell?

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  • Kristina Nyström

    (The Royal Institute of Technology
    The Ratio Institute)

Abstract

Recruiting employees to an entrepreneurial venture is a challenging task. From the employee’s perspective, accepting a position in an entrepreneurial venture potentially implies considerable uncertainty. This paper provide a literature review and identifies research gaps related to labor mobility of employees into and out of entrepreneurial firms. Who works for an entrepreneur? What are the conditions under which the employees of entrepreneurial firms work? Additionally, labor mobility after an employee works for an entrepreneurial firm is discussed. In conclusion, the quality of the jobs generated by entrepreneurial firms may be questionable (and still relatively unexplored in empirical research), but they are nevertheless important from a labor dynamic perspective. Better understanding about motives to work for an entrepreneur, issues related to job security beyond survival rates, and job quality may contribute to ease the recruitment problems that many entrepreneurial firms struggle with. Furthermore, the relevance and potential pros and cons of working for an entrepreneurial firm in future career paths (entrepreneur or employee) need to be carefully addressed in future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Nyström, 2021. "Working for an entrepreneur: heaven or hell?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 919-931, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:56:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-019-00276-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-019-00276-0
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    Cited by:

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    3. Rudic, Biljana & Hubner, Sylvia & Baum, Matthias, 2021. "Hustlers, hipsters and hackers: Potential employees’ stereotypes of entrepreneurial leaders," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    4. Seung Hoon D. Chung & Simon C. Parker, 2023. "Founder affiliations: jobseeker reactions and impact on employee recruitment by start-up ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 259-283, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Labor mobility; Employees in entrepreneurial firms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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