IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v50y2018i3d10.1007_s11187-017-9911-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Founder human capital and new technology venture R&D search intensity: the moderating role of an environmental jolt

Author

Listed:
  • Xian Cao

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Junyon Im

    (University of Manitoba)

Abstract

We argue that founder human capital—formal education, same-industry work experience, and prior entrepreneurial experience—will be positively related to the research and development (R&D) search intensity of new technology ventures. In addition, these positive relationships will be strengthened when new technology ventures face an environmental jolt, such as the Great Recession. An empirical analysis of longitudinal data on new technology ventures in the manufacturing industry from the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS) broadly supports our hypotheses. The results show that all dimensions of founder human capital increase new technology ventures’ R&D search intensity, and the positive effect of same-industry work experience becomes stronger during the Great Recession. However, in contrast to our expectation, the positive effect of prior entrepreneurial experience is weaker during the Great Recession, not stronger. Furthermore, we do not find support for our hypothesis that the positive relationship between founders’ formal education and new technology ventures’ R&D search intensity is stronger during the Great Recession. These seemly contradictory results suggest that although the different dimensions of founder human capital are all positively related to new technology ventures’ R&D search intensity, they exert divergent impacts on it when confronting an environmental jolt. As such, our study extends the situational and institutional determinants of R&D search intensity by focusing on founders’ human capital and provides deeper insights by considering environmental conditions. By shifting the focus from established firms to new ventures, our study also enriches the understanding of new technology ventures’ innovative activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Xian Cao & Junyon Im, 2018. "Founder human capital and new technology venture R&D search intensity: the moderating role of an environmental jolt," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 625-642, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:50:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9911-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-017-9911-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-017-9911-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-017-9911-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharon A. Alvarez & Jay B. Barney, 2014. "Entrepreneurial Opportunities and Poverty Alleviation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(1), pages 159-184, January.
    2. Niels Bosma & Mirjam van Praag & Roy Thurik & Gerrit de Wit, 2004. "The Value of Human and Social Capital Investments for the Business Performance of Startups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 227-236, October.
    3. James J. Chrisman & Alan Bauerschmidt & Charles W. Hofer, 1998. "The Determinants of New Venture Performance: An Extended Model," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(1), pages 5-29, October.
    4. Steven W. Bradley & Dean A. Shepherd & Johan Wiklund, 2011. "The Importance of Slack for New Organizations Facing ‘Tough’ Environments," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1071-1097, July.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Kaish, Stanley & Gilad, Benjamin, 1991. "Characteristics of opportunities search of entrepreneurs versus executives: Sources, interests, general alertness," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 45-61, January.
    7. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2008. "Opportunity Identification and Pursuit: Does an Entrepreneur’s Human Capital Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 153-173, February.
    8. Lumley, Thomas, 2004. "Analysis of Complex Survey Samples," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 9(i08).
    9. Maria Minniti & William Bygrave, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Learning," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(3), pages 5-16, April.
    10. Aaron K. Chatterji, 2009. "Spawned with a silver spoon? Entrepreneurial performance and innovation in the medical device industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 185-206, February.
    11. Edward P. Lazear, 2004. "Balanced Skills and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 208-211, May.
    12. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    13. Bardhan, Ashok & Walker, Richard A., 2010. "California, Pivot of the Great Recession," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt0qn3z3td, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    14. Erik Stam & Karl Wennberg, 2009. "The roles of R&D in new firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 77-89, June.
    15. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    16. Stuart, Robert W. & Abetti, Pier A., 1990. "Impact of entrepreneurial and management experience on early performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 151-162, May.
    17. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
    18. Gadi Barlevy, 2007. "On the Cyclicality of Research and Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(4), pages 1131-1164, September.
    19. Cooper, Arnold C. & Folta, Timothy B. & Woo, Carolyn, 1995. "Entrepreneurial information search," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 107-120, March.
    20. Mikael Samuelsson & Per Davidsson, 2009. "Does venture opportunity variation matter? Investigating systematic process differences between innovative and imitative new ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 229-255, August.
    21. Garry D. Bruton & David Ahlstrom & Han–Lin Li, 2010. "Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship: Where Are We Now and Where Do We Need to Move in the Future?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(3), pages 421-440, May.
    22. Thomas Dalziel & Richard J. Gentry & Michael Bowerman, 2011. "An Integrated Agency–Resource Dependence View of the Influence of Directors' Human and Relational Capital on Firms' R&D Spending," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1217-1242, September.
    23. Shepherd, Dean A. & Douglas, Evan J. & Shanley, Mark, 2000. "New venture survival: Ignorance, external shocks, and risk reduction strategies," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 393-410.
    24. Robert A. Baron & Michael D. Ensley, 2006. "Opportunity Recognition as the Detection of Meaningful Patterns: Evidence from Comparisons of Novice and Experienced Entrepreneurs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(9), pages 1331-1344, September.
    25. Sapienza, Harry J. & Manigart, Sophie & Vermeir, Wim, 1996. "Venture capitalist governance and value added in four countries," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(6), pages 439-469, November.
    26. Sine, Wesley D. & David, Robert J., 2003. "Environmental jolts, institutional change, and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunity in the US electric power industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 185-207, February.
    27. Diamanto Politis, 2005. "The Process of Entrepreneurial Learning: A Conceptual Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(4), pages 399-424, July.
    28. Benjamin A. Campbell, 2013. "Earnings Effects of Entrepreneurial Experience: Evidence from the Semiconductor Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 286-304, February.
    29. Gautam Ahuja & Curba Morris Lampert, 2001. "Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 521-543, June.
    30. Henry S. Farber, 2012. "Unemployment in the Great Recession: Did the Housing Market Crisis Prevent the Unemployed from Moving to Take Jobs?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 520-525, May.
    31. Srivastava, Abhishek & Lee, Hun, 2005. "Predicting order and timing of new product moves: the role of top management in corporate entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 459-481, July.
    32. Gary Dushnitsky & Michael J. Lenox, 2005. "When do firms undertake R&D by investing in new ventures?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(10), pages 947-965, October.
    33. Cohen, Wesley M & Levinthal, Daniel A, 1989. "Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 569-596, September.
    34. Kahle, Kathleen M. & Stulz, René M., 2013. "Access to capital, investment, and the financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 280-299.
    35. Thomas Palley, 2011. "America’s flawed paradigm: macroeconomic causes of the financial crisis and great recession," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 3-17, February.
    36. Elie Matta & Jean McGuire, 2008. "Too Risky to Hold? The Effect of Downside Risk, Accumulated Equity Wealth, and Firm Performance on CEO Equity Reduction," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(4), pages 567-580, August.
    37. Dimo Dimov, 2010. "Nascent Entrepreneurs and Venture Emergence: Opportunity Confidence, Human Capital, and Early Planning," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1123-1153, September.
    38. Ryan, Harley Jr. & Wiggins, Roy III, 2001. "The influence of firm- and manager-specific characteristics on the structure of executive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 101-123, June.
    39. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    40. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2006. "In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 68-82, January.
    41. Douglas, Evan J. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2000. "Entrepreneurship as a utility maximizing response," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 231-251, May.
    42. Elie Matta & Jean Mcguire, 2008. "Too Risky To Hold? The Effect of Downside Risk, Accumulated Equity Wealth, And Firm Performance on CEO Equity Reduction," Post-Print hal-00486650, HAL.
    43. Barringer, Bruce R. & Jones, Foard F. & Neubaum, Donald O., 2005. "A quantitative content analysis of the characteristics of rapid-growth firms and their founders," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 663-687, September.
    44. Constance E. Helfat, 1997. "Know‐how and asset complementarity and dynamic capability accumulation: the case of r&d," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 339-360, May.
    45. Cooper, Arnold C. & Gimeno-Gascon, F. Javier & Woo, Carolyn Y., 1994. "Initial human and financial capital as predictors of new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 371-395, September.
    46. Anker Lund Vinding, 2006. "Absorptive capacity and innovative performance: A human capital approach," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 507-517.
    47. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael A. Abebe & Pingshu Li & Keshab Acharya & Joshua J. Daspit, 2020. "The founder chief executive officer: A review of current insights and directions for future research," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 406-436, November.
    2. Lv, David Diwei & Chen, Weihong & Zhu, Hang & Lan, Hailin, 2019. "How does inconsistent negative performance feedback affect the R&D investments of firms? A study of publicly listed firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 151-162.
    3. Andreas Rauch & Willem Hulsink, 2023. "Just one Damned Thing After Another: Towards an Event-based Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(3), pages 662-681, May.
    4. Jitao Hu & Longying Hu & Mingzhu Hu & Antony Dnes, 2023. "Entrepreneurial human capital, equity concentration and firm performance: Evidence from companies listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 187-196, January.
    5. Jiyoung Kimjeon & Per Davidsson, 2022. "External Enablers of Entrepreneurship: A Review and Agenda for Accumulation of Strategically Actionable Knowledge," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 643-687, May.
    6. Pindado, Emilio & Sánchez, Mercedes & García Martínez, Marian, 2023. "Entrepreneurial innovativeness: When too little or too much agglomeration hurts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    7. Claudia Cantabene & Iacopo Grassi, 2020. "R&D cooperation in SMEs: the direct effect and the moderating role of human capital," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(28), pages 3090-3105, June.
    8. Patel, Pankaj C. & João Guedes, Maria & Pagano, Michael S. & Olson, Gerard T., 2020. "Industry profitability matters: The value of sustainable growth rate and distance from bankruptcy as enablers of venture survival," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 80-92.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Farhad Uddin Ahmed & Louis Brennan, 2019. "The impact of Founder’s human capital on firms’ extent of early internationalisation: Evidence from a least-developed country," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 615-659, September.
    2. Dimo Dimov, 2010. "Nascent Entrepreneurs and Venture Emergence: Opportunity Confidence, Human Capital, and Early Planning," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1123-1153, September.
    3. Marvel, Matthew R. & Wolfe, Marcus T. & Kuratko, Donald F., 2020. "Escaping the knowledge corridor: How founder human capital and founder coachability impacts product innovation in new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    4. Uy, Marilyn A. & Foo, Maw-Der & Song, Zhaoli, 2013. "Joint effects of prior start-up experience and coping strategies on entrepreneurs’ psychological well-being," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 583-597.
    5. Yongseok Jang, 2019. "Entreprenurial Human Capital and Inward Technology Licensing in the Context of New Technology-Based Firms," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(07), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Klyver, Kim & Steffens, Paul & Lomberg, Carina, 2020. "Having your cake and eating it too? A two-stage model of the impact of employment and parallel job search on hybrid nascent entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    7. Amrita Lahiri & Anu Wadhwa, 2021. "When do serial entrepreneurs found innovative ventures? Evidence from patent data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1973-1993, December.
    8. Étienne St-Jean & Maripier Tremblay & Frank Janssen & Jacques Baronet & Christophe Loué & Aziz Nafa, 2017. "May business mentors act as opportunity brokers and enablers among university students?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 97-111, March.
    9. Johan Wiklund & Holger Patzelt & Dean Shepherd, 2009. "Building an integrative model of small business growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 351-374, April.
    10. Ko, Eun-Jeong & McKelvie, Alexander, 2018. "Signaling for more money: The roles of founders' human capital and investor prominence in resource acquisition across different stages of firm development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 438-454.
    11. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2008. "Opportunity Identification and Pursuit: Does an Entrepreneur’s Human Capital Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 153-173, February.
    12. Dmitri Knatko & Galina Shirokova & Karina Bogatyreva, 2016. "Industry choice by young entrepreneurs in different country settings: the role of human and financial capital," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 613-627, July.
    13. Louise Lindbjerg & Theodor Vladasel, 2021. "Hiring Entrepreneurs for Innovation," Working Papers 1309, Barcelona School of Economics.
    14. Panagiotis Ganotakis, 2012. "Founders’ human capital and the performance of UK new technology based firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 495-515, September.
    15. Matthew R. Marvel & Justin L. Davis & Curtis R. Sproul, 2016. "Human Capital and Entrepreneurship Research: A Critical Review and Future Directions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(3), pages 599-626, May.
    16. Matthew R. Marvel, 2013. "Human Capital and Search–Based Discovery: A Study of High–Tech Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(2), pages 403-419, March.
    17. Tim R. Holcomb & R. Duane Ireland & R. Michael Holmes Jr. & Michael A. Hitt, 2009. "Architecture of Entrepreneurial Learning: Exploring the Link among Heuristics, Knowledge, and Action," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 167-192, January.
    18. J. Michael Haynie & Dean A. Shepherd & Jeffery S. McMullen, 2009. "An Opportunity for Me? The Role of Resources in Opportunity Evaluation Decisions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 337-361, May.
    19. Deniz Ucbasaran & Mike Wright & Paul Westhead, 2006. "Entrepreneurial Entry, Exit and Re-Entry: The Extent and Nature of Opportunity Identification," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-09, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    20. Salisu Isyaku, 2014. "Mediating Effect of Uncertainty Avoidance on the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Talent and SMEs Performance in Nigeria: A Conceptual Analysis," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 4(6), pages 368-383, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Founder human capital; New technology ventures; R&D search intensity; Environmental jolts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:50:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-017-9911-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.