Dynamism and performance of indigenous entrepreneurs: role of tribal culture and failure of policy incentives in Mizoram (India)

This paper aims at exploring the drivers of entrepreneurial dynamism and performance in indigenous societies. In Mizoram (India) with a predominantly tribal population, the government has actively intervened to encourage entrepreneurship through policy incentives/subsidies. Yet, the region continues to lag behind in entrepreneurship development. In an attempt to explain this apparent failure of conventional policies to promote entrepreneurship in Mizoram (India), this paper explores the factors that could potentially determine entrepreneurial dynamism and performance in an indigenous society through the lens of their tribal culture and institutions. Our results show that tribal values are the prime drivers of entrepreneurial dynamism, while conventional traits and attitudes have no impact, disproving two dominant narratives. We also find that conventional subsidies have a negative impact on profitability, perhaps due a dampening effect of subsidies on dynamism.