IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/entthe/v37y2013i2p403-419.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Human Capital and Search–Based Discovery: A Study of High–Tech Entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew R. Marvel

Abstract

What types of knowledge and experience enable those who have the desire to start a venture find an appropriate opportunity? To respond to this question, a human capital perspective is used with a sample of 166 founders of new technology ventures in university incubators. General human capital is assessed using experience depth and formal education. Specific human capital is measured using prior start–up experience as well as Shane's knowledge framework of markets, customer problems, and ways to serve markets. Findings reveal key aspects of human capital vital to explaining search–based discovery. Implications for research and entrepreneurship education are drawn.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:entthe:v:37:y:2013:i:2:p:403-419
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00465.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00465.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00465.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ardichvili, Alexander & Cardozo, Richard & Ray, Sourav, 2003. "A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 105-123, January.
    2. Maria Minniti & William Bygrave, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Learning," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(3), pages 5-16, April.
    3. Robinson, Peter B. & Sexton, Edwin A., 1994. "The effect of education and experience on self-employment success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 141-156, March.
    4. Jovanovic, Boyan & Nyarko, Yaw, 1995. "The transfer of human capital," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 19(5-7), pages 1033-1064.
    5. Theodore W. Schultz, 1960. "Capital Formation by Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(6), pages 571-571.
    6. Zarutskie, Rebecca, 2010. "The role of top management team human capital in venture capital markets: Evidence from first-time funds," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 155-172, January.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5.
    8. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. Dew, Nicholas & Read, Stuart & Sarasvathy, Saras D. & Wiltbank, Robert, 2009. "Effectual versus predictive logics in entrepreneurial decision-making: Differences between experts and novices," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 287-309, July.
    10. 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.
    11. Elizabeth E. Bailey & Constance E. Helfat, 2003. "External management succession, human capital, and firm performance: an integrative analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 347-369.
    12. Corbett, Andrew C., 2007. "Learning asymmetries and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 97-118, January.
    13. Johan Wiklund & Dean Shepherd, 2003. "Aspiring for, and Achieving Growth: The Moderating Role of Resources and Opportunities," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1919-1941, December.
    14. Ronstadt, Robert, 1988. "The Corridor Principle," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 31-40.
    15. Eric von Hippel, 1986. "Lead Users: A Source of Novel Product Concepts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(7), pages 791-805, July.
    16. Elaine Mosakowski, 1998. "Entrepreneurial Resources, Organizational Choices, and Competitive Outcomes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(6), pages 625-643, December.
    17. James O. Fiet, 2007. "A Prescriptive Analysis of Search and Discovery," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 592-611, June.
    18. Mourad Dakhli & Dirk De Clercq, 2004. "Human capital, social capital, and innovation: a multi-country study," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 107-128, March.
    19. Scott Shane, 2000. "Prior Knowledge and the Discovery of Entrepreneurial Opportunities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(4), pages 448-469, August.
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. 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.
    23. Johan Wiklund & Dean A. Shepherd, 2008. "Portfolio Entrepreneurship: Habitual and Novice Founders, New Entry, and Mode of Organizing," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(4), pages 701-725, July.
    24. Evans, David S & Leighton, Linda S, 1989. "Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 519-535, June.
    25. George P. Huber & Danial J. Power, 1985. "Retrospective reports of strategic‐level managers: Guidelines for increasing their accuracy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 171-180, April.
    26. Dimov, Dimo P. & Shepherd, Dean A., 2005. "Human capital theory and venture capital firms: exploring "home runs" and "strike outs"," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, January.
    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. Bogatyreva, Karina & Laskovaia, Anastasiia & Osiyevskyy, Oleksiy, 2022. "Entrepreneurial activity, intrapreneurship, and conducive institutions: Is there a connection?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 45-56.
    2. Zhang, Ye & Johan, Sofia & Fu, Kun & Hughes, Mathew & Scholes, Louise & Liu, Jiajia, 2024. "The effect of lead investor’s human capital on funding performance: The moderating role of investment ambition," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Sumayya Rashid & Vanessa Ratten, 2021. "Commodifying skills for survival among artisan entrepreneurs in Pakistan," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1091-1110, September.
    4. 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).
    5. Pindado, Emilio & Sánchez, Mercedes & Verstegen, Jos A.A.M. & Lans, Thomas, 2018. "Searching for the entrepreneurs among new entrants in European Agriculture: the role of human and social capital," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 19-30.
    6. 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).
    7. Burnell, Devin & Neubert, Emily & Fisher, Greg & Marvel, Matthew R. & Stevenson, Regan & Kuratko, Donald F., 2024. "Entrepreneurial hustle: Scale development and validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(4).

    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. 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).
    2. Matthew R. Marvel & G. T. Lumpkin, 2017. "Domain Learning and Opportunity Development in a High-Tech Context," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 67-96, March.
    3. Matthew R. Marvel & G.T. Lumpkin, 2007. "Technology Entrepreneurs’ Human Capital and Its Effects on Innovation Radicalness," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(6), pages 807-828, November.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    8. Cassar, Gavin, 2014. "Industry and startup experience on entrepreneur forecast performance in new firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 137-151.
    9. Pindado, Emilio & Sánchez, Mercedes & Verstegen, Jos A.A.M. & Lans, Thomas, 2018. "Searching for the entrepreneurs among new entrants in European Agriculture: the role of human and social capital," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 19-30.
    10. Petra Andries & Dirk Czarnitzki, 2014. "Small firm innovation performance and employee involvement," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 21-38, June.
    11. 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.
    12. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    13. Kamilia LOUKIL, 2020. "Intellectual property rights, human capital and types of entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(622), S), pages 21-40, Spring.
    14. Susan Ramezanpour & Seyran Amiriyan & Ali Naghi Mosleh Shirazy, 2014. "Investigation of the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition and Entrepreneurial Capitals," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(5), pages 598-613, May.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Sascha G. Walter & K. Praveen Parboteeah & Achim Walter, 2013. "University Departments and Self–Employment Intentions of Business Students: A Cross–Level Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(2), pages 175-200, March.
    18. Enrico Santarelli & Hien Tran, 2013. "The interplay of human and social capital in shaping entrepreneurial performance: the case of Vietnam," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 435-458, February.
    19. Vandor, Peter & Franke, Nikolaus, 2016. "See Paris and… found a business? The impact of cross-cultural experience on opportunity recognition capabilities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 388-407.
    20. Corbett, Andrew C., 2007. "Learning asymmetries and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 97-118, January.

    More about this item

    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:sae:entthe:v:37:y:2013:i:2:p:403-419. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.