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Longer life expectancy brings a new phenomenon: senior entrepreneurship. Whereas starting a business involves investing energy, time, money or other types of resources, ageing is somewhat incompatible with these terms. Research on the impact of time perception on the entrepreneurial process is rather scarce. Considering the lack of knowledge related to the impact of time perception on the entrepreneurship process, this study aims to answer the following research question: how does temporal perception influence the entrepreneurial process?

Senior entrepreneurs are the most relevant category of individuals from which the impact of time perception could be observed, as they are objectively closer to the end of their careers than younger entrepreneurs. Therefore, longitudinal research was conducted by interviewing five senior entrepreneurs at 4-year intervals.

Results show that there are two types of temporal perception in entrepreneurship: temporal perception of the entrepreneur's career and temporal perception of the enterprise's development. When these two-time perspectives are not synchronized with the entrepreneur's vision, the entrepreneur develops strategies for seeking to re-establish synchronicity between the temporal perspective (TP) of their entrepreneurial career and that of the business development. The senior entrepreneur is distinguished from a traditional entrepreneur by a limited TP of their entrepreneurial career combined with the notions of bridge employment and generativity.

The number of cases under study did not allow us to examine every possible type of situation. The sampling of the cases under study did not offer great diversity in terms of gender, as the study had only men. However, the range of ages at startup, from 50 to 65 years, provides greater diversity, as does the range of business segments that included the service, manufacturing and retail food industries.

Entrepreneurs with a limited career time perspective correspond to senior entrepreneurs, while others who have an open career prospect, regardless of their age, correspond to any other form of an entrepreneur. This study has also been able to identify that an entrepreneur who realizes their limited entrepreneurial career horizon and perceives a temporal purpose of their company in the service of the involved parties tends to plan the entrepreneurial exit phase.

Why is self-employment an attractive option for certain seniors and what drives seniors into business start-ups? In this study, the motivations and preferences of senior entrepreneurs in Australia, to become self-employed, by means of business start-ups, are explored. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical basis for policy implications.

A mixed methods study is conducted. Members of the National Senior’s Association in Australia were interviewed and surveyed. The semi-structured interviews identified the key factors influencing senior entrepreneurs in relation to self-employment and entrepreneurial choices at a later career stage. The survey collected information on intentionality, motivation, skills, opportunities, success, satisfaction, participation, barriers, benefits, education and training, and perceptions of policy support for senior entrepreneurs.

Respondents gave an account of the prevalence of pull factors motivating their choice of an entrepreneurial career. Multivariate statistical analysis of survey responses showed that senior entrepreneurs are more driven by opportunity than necessity and are primarily internally motivated.

Results of this study suggest a weak link between motivation by others and the act of start-up, but this may also imply that those seniors who are more likely to become entrepreneurs are more likely to ignore the impulses from their social context. This requires further investigation to ensure a robust identification of drivers and an elimination of contextual effects. Further research is suggested to compose a relevant model structure in different contexts and a representative sample to confirm the model outcomes.

This is the first mixed methods study of the antecedents of senior entrepreneurs’ start-up intentions in Australia. The study also uses entrepreneurial activity as opposed to intention as its dependent variable, which allows for a more accurate evaluation of antecedents to the senior entrepreneurship phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to study the case of Chile and identify the internal factors that lead to senior (+55 years old) entrepreneurship, either by necessity or opportunity, compared to that in other age groups.

The analysis is based on the adult population survey of the global entrepreneurship monitor between 2012 and 2016 and uses a logistic regression model that applies different variables to total early-stage entrepreneurial activity by necessity and opportunity.

Education, human and social capital development, gender and prior experience as an entrepreneur are internal factors that affect entrepreneurial activity with different weights and directions for people over 55 years old in Chile, either by necessity or opportunity. Further, certain factors exhibited by other age groups in the country explain entrepreneurship.

This study does not consider external perspectives on how context influences entrepreneurial intentions.

This paper represents a first step to understanding the factors that governments should consider when designing policies to support entrepreneurial activity in the senior demographic sector, considering differences in motivation by necessity or opportunity. In addition, this study contributes to the development of knowledge regarding senior entrepreneurship in Chile and to the identification of best practices that could be used in other regions.

This report is the first to focus on the motivations of senior entrepreneurs in Chile by quantifying the effects of different factors.

Over the last decades, the development of entrepreneurial activity has allowed greater growth and economic development in Spain. However, within the analysis of Spanish entrepreneurial dynamics, insufficient attention has been paid to a key group: senior entrepreneurs. The fact that the first two decades of the 21st century have been accompanied by the two worst economic crises in remembrance since the Great Depression of the 1930s has had a great impact on the professional careers of the group of senior workers, whose careers have been cut short due to the closure of companies. In this way, the present work delves into the reality of senior entrepreneurs in Spain, analyzing the main characteristics of this group, which is becoming increasingly important in society.

Using microdata from the Spanish National Statistics Institute's Labour Force Survey, the study focuses on reference persons who, being 50 years of age or over and actively working, work as an entrepreneur and have started their activity in the last 12 months. The study covers, in turn, the analysis period of the fourth quarters from 2005 to 2020. In relation to the methodology, the work focuses on the use of binary logistic regression techniques, given that the phenomenon to be studied is binary in nature: entrepreneurship or not.

The main conclusions drawn are the importance of sociodemographic factors such as educational level, age, the profession of the couple as well as the fact of having or not having children. The sector of activity and region are also significant. It is also concluded that senior entrepreneurship in Spain is of a necessary nature, considering the evolution of unemployment and decisions based on pension reform.

The main limitations of the study refer to the lack of socioeconomic information. Thus, it would be interesting to know the link among the sociodemographic characteristics and the economic situation of the professionals, as well as the fact of whether they have started from a previous situation of unemployment or employment.

The obtained conclusions allow progress to be made in the generation of economic policies aimed at the professional reorientation of a group of workers who, due to labor market circumstances, are obliged to end long professional careers and to seek alternatives. In fact, entrepreneurship is a viable professional alternative for these professionals.

Despite the importance of senior professionals in the Spanish economy, more research is needed on their characteristics and needs. Despite important studies such as Socci et al. (2020) or Perez-Encinas et al. (2021), there are not many studies for the Spanish reality. This paper seeks to deepen the understanding of the sociodemographic characteristics of Spanish senior entrepreneurs, based on current public information and considering different stages of the economic cycle.

This paper aims to reveal the role of two theories that impact seniors’ entrepreneurial intentions. Both the socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and the self-determination theory (SDT) re-shape seniors’ intentions to create entrepreneurial opportunities and activities after they retire.

This paper uses secondary data resources for developing the research concept, which might leverage seniors’ ultimate goal of creating entrepreneurial activities. A comprehensive past-paper analysis was performed. One hundred papers were initially considered for inclusion in this research. However, after a rigorous synthesisation process, 80 publications were selected for further analysis.

This paper presents an investigation of seniors’ entrepreneurship, with a specific emphasis on the SST and the SDT. It suggests potential models that could gauge senior entrepreneurs’ propensity to engage in entrepreneurial endeavours to support the socioeconomic advancement of society. Furthermore, this research discussed the limitations of the enlightening concepts presented to scholars and decision-makers.

The originality of this paper is illuminated by its idea of integrating two theories (the SST and the SDT), suggesting that these theories can possibly better observe senior entrepreneurs’ intentions in creating an entrepreneurial venture after they retire.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015), in the next 30 years, the world population will age rapidly, so that in the middle of the twenty-first century those people who are over 60 years of age will be double that at the beginning of the century. Between 2015 and 2050, the world population with more than 60 years of age will increase from 900 million to 2,000 million.

Faced with this demographic change experienced by the world population, formulas are increasingly being raised that make active aging possible, opening possibilities for self-realization and personal and professional growth until the end of life. This is one of the reasons why more and more scholars and practitioners are focusing on the value of entrepreneurship in older adults and the programs that encourage it.

This chapter aims to reflect on what leads the group of so-called senior entrepreneurs to start a new work–life based on entrepreneurship or self-employment, as well as discuss some myths of entrepreneurship. To what extent we must consider the firm performance as a variable on which the decision can be taken is pivoted. Entrepreneurship is a complex issue, and although it is true that it has been strongly analyzed both academically and professionally by different generations of young people, the behavior of senior entrepreneurs, a population group that is becoming increasingly important sociologically and economically, has barely been studied.

The purpose of this paper is to characterize the senior entrepreneurship context, as a solution for an unemployed qualified segment between 45 and 60 years of age, in the Northern region of Portugal, from a national and European perspective, associated to the growth trend of qualified senior unemployment in the region, based on a statistical angle and from the point of view of the motivations to become self-employed with a business creation project.

This empirical study is a cross-sectional study of mixed nature, that reconciles qualitative and quantitative analysis. A questionnaire was made and applied to a sample of 1,000 individuals and seven semi-structured interviews which four focus groups were carried out.

Findings allow us to conclude that the studied segment, skilled unemployed individuals between the ages of 45 and 60, is a growing segment that tends to evolve into long-term unemployment and underlines a potential reluctant entrepreneurship by necessity, i.e. a reduced motivational content of these unemployed people for the creation of their own job. The authors can conclude, in the Portuguese case, that government policies relating to taxes and bureaucracy are considered as unfavorable conditions or potentially inhibitors of senior entrepreneurship. Lastly, the authors underline the clear absence of specific support programs and measures for the promotion of entrepreneurship among the qualified senior unemployed and the authors propose an ecosystem creation regarding the specifics of the target group of the study.

The study identifies a set of actions and/or orientations that could be relevant and taken into account by the decision makers.

The main contribution of this paper is the better knowledge of the context and motivations for qualified senior entrepreneurship, as well as the associated personal, economic and social barriers; and the specific suggestions provided to policy makers in order to improve the context of the senior entrepreneurship.

The research aims to examine the underlying factors of entrepreneurial intentions among seniors. In this vein, it evaluates the role of social context proxied by the human development index (HDI) along with individual characteristics towards these initiatives. Emerging economies deliver great potential for income generation swiftly approaching the standards of their developed counterparts. Their present ageing trends severely threaten growth prospects because of workforce withering. European insights will help anticipating constraints through alternative models of human capital allocation.

Four logistic regressions were run to address hypotheses in test, relying upon the global entrepreneurship monitor – adult population survey. Estimations include 20,386 individuals from database and 21 European Union countries. Ex-post robustness checks corroborate the global significance of the proposed model.

Empirical findings reinforce the importance of the macroeconomic context among senior endeavours and the non-linearities in terms of the age effect. Moreover, context can help eroding gender gaps in this field and refine the opportunity perception These results go in line with the literature and extend the importance of promoting a favourable ecosystem. Promotion of senior endeavours must consider smart policy packages encompassing the individual singularities as this age range will be too important to be wasted. Senior entrepreneurs are key to the latent job market crisis, needing to be encouraged through positive discrimination.

Originally, by incorporating an exogenous variable encompassing the role of the entrepreneurial context, this study contributes academically to evaluating the determinants of entrepreneurial activity among the elderly. In addition, the development of cohorts highlights the specific importance of individual characteristics in entrepreneurial propensity in each context. The heterogenous results proves the ineffectiveness of “one sizes fits all” policies.

This research reinforces extant literature, notwithstanding the empirical refinements implemented brought up two additional perspectives: complementing previous towards the relevance of HDI cohorts along with the non-linearities of the effect of age. Learning from the European context and acknowledging efficacy of policy instruments will avoid serendipitous actions or failures, enhancing promising ecosystems such as emerging economies.

The study academically contributes to the appraisal of the determinants of entrepreneurial activity among seniors, thus, in an original way, by incorporating an exogenous variable to appraise the role of the context. Development cohorts evidence the existence of singularities in entrepreneurial propensity and individual characteristics according to their levels, such that policy actions should consider their differences.

To provide a qualitative, in‐depth, naturalistic, empirical inquiry into entrepreneurial decision‐making, through the application of grounded theory methodology.

Application of original Glaser and Strauss grounded theory methodological approach and subsequent works are situated in the comparatively new context of entrepreneurship and small business management. Gathered data are iteratively analysed to produce emergent conceptual categories and their underpinning properties. Emergent substantive theories of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial decision making are discussed against existing decision and entrepreneurship theories.

First, the examination of the appropriateness of applying grounded theory to investigating complex entrepreneurship issues, as analysed through conceptual categories drawn from an empirical study. Second, the theoretical exploration of emergent entrepreneurship bounded practices and associated tasks of decision‐making. Finally, through the revelation of what is inductively achievable, what can be practically learned by researching naturalistic entrepreneurship.

This process of iterative theory building, whilst grounded in a substantive inquiry, holds the capacity to generate further research questions and tentative explanations at broader formal levels. By cross cutting the boundaries of units of analyses – the entrepreneur or associated actors, for example – this results in the maturation of a complex web of human interactivities. From the research reported, questions beyond the substantive case can develop a broader theoretical and practical agenda. For example, issues such as: buying‐in to an established business, the managing of key skills workers in small enterprises, and, entrepreneurial decision‐making in conjunction with other actors’ involvement.

The application of grounded theory emergent research objectives, whilst originating from particular inductive investigations, can become foundations for better understanding broader entrepreneurship questions and practice‐based researched endeavours.

This paper contributes to the identified need for developing the stock of qualitatively bounded research within entrepreneurship and small business inquiry. It develops understanding of both the theoretical and practical nature of entrepreneurship, the managing of an enterprise and the synonymous task of making decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the entrepreneurial learning and support needs of older unemployed, highlighting the barriers that need to be addressed, and to explore the impact of a tailored entrepreneurship training programme.

An interpretivist philosophical standpoint is adopted with an action research approach to engage key informants to design, implement and evaluate the programme. Focus groups and interviews with 132 older unemployed individuals and 50 stakeholders across six countries were conducted as well as pre- and post-programme evaluations and surveys with 55 programme participants across three countries.

This research provides a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial learning and support needs of older unemployed.

The small sample size of participants measured using a hybrid measure of ESE is a limitation.

For entrepreneurship educators, the components of designing and delivering an entrepreneurship programme for older unemployed are identified. For enterprise and unemployment support agencies, it provides evidence of the initial and ongoing support needs for starting and running a business in later life.

A framework specific to older unemployed individuals turning towards self-employment or entrepreneurship is proposed and tested in this paper. The framework proposes that individual and contextual antecedents influence the decision to become self-employed in later life and that the training, support and entrepreneurial experience helps to overcome barriers and shapes individual and societal outcomes.