Previous military experience and entrepreneurship toward poverty reduction: evidence from China
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 2 July 2021
Issue publication date: 19 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Research on entrepreneurship toward poverty reduction has outlined how micro-level characteristics of entrepreneurs capture entrepreneurial opportunities in settings of poverty; however, little is known about the influence of previous military experience in this context. This paper investigates how previous military experience influences poverty-reduction entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses data from two main sources. First, individual-level and firm-level information come from a nationwide survey of founders of private enterprises. Second, province-level information is taken from the Marketization Index and the China Statistics Yearbook. An analysis of the Logit moderation model renders strong support for our conjectures.
Findings
Via novel integration of imprinting theory and research on previous military experience, we propose that entrepreneurs with previous military experience have a strong sense of self-sacrifice, and as a result, are better able to participate in poverty-reduction entrepreneurship. In addition, we build on the resource availability and stakeholder expectations arguments and predict that the main effect of previous military experience on poverty-reduction entrepreneurship will be strengthened by reduced corporate philanthropy and increased government intervention.
Originality/value
Our study adds to the extant literature in the following ways. First, it enriches the literature on entrepreneurship toward poverty reduction. Second, it contributes to imprinting theory in the entrepreneurial field. Third, it adds knowledge to the social entrepreneurship literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We thank the Editor-in-Chief Brandon Randolph-Seng, the anonymous reviewers, and Shaker A. Zahra and Yong Li for their helpful comments and suggestions. We acknowledge funding from the General Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities of Jiangsu Province (grant number: 2020SJA0254). The usual disclaimers apply.
Compliance with ethical standards: The author declares that he has complied with ethical standards.
Conflict of interest: The author declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Citation
Xu, Z., Li, B., Liu, Z. and Wu, J. (2022), "Previous military experience and entrepreneurship toward poverty reduction: evidence from China", Management Decision, Vol. 60 No. 7, pp. 1969-1989. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-01-2021-0160
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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