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Women-led companies receive less than 5 per cent of early-stage equity investment. This paper aims to explore the disparity in equity funding between men- and women-led companies, using a social identity perspective, complemented by insights from signaling theory. We argue that in the angel group context, which is male-dominated, gender stereotypes may bias angels’ interpretation of the signals sent by entrepreneurs, so that entrepreneurial ventures led by men are more favorably evaluated, thus excluding women entrepreneurs from funding. The ideas are tested on a sample of 358 entrepreneurs who applied for funding from a northeast US angel group using perceptual data from both sides of the investment dyad. Findings suggest that angel investors view women-led entrepreneurial ventures as having less legitimacy, even though we see no difference in actual legitimacy across ventures.

The ideas are tested on a sample of 358 entrepreneurs who applied for funding from a northeast angel group using perceptual data from both sides of the investment dyad.

The findings suggest that, in the context of angel investing, there is a subtle bias that follows from the perceived stereotype between being female and the ability to lead a legitimate new venture. Thus, this study tests the tenets of the social identity theory by finding that mostly male angel investors act in accordance to their gender prescribed roles when they evaluate businesses presented by women entrepreneurs providing some evidence of “in-group” and “out-group” effects and stereotypes.

The findings continue the conversation about biases toward women in early-stage financing by using a social identity lens to look at the way in which adopted identities lead to particular outcomes and stereotypes. The authors have used the context of angel investing to test these ideas, finding some support for their contention that gender is pivotal when angels are making investment decisions. For researchers, this study suggests that gender should not be used solely as a control variable, but instead should be the focus of the inquiry itself.

For practitioners, this study reminds women seeking angel investment that they are not playing on a level field and so they should do all that they can to enhance the legitimacy of themselves and their ventures.

The authors contend that within an angel group that is composed of predominantly men, role stereotypes of entrepreneurs as masculine will be expected, therefore creating gender biases against women. The authors expect these biases, whether conscious or unconscious, will lead the angel investors to evaluate men entrepreneurs more favorably than women entrepreneurs as they move through the angel investment process. Therefore, for women entrepreneurs in the early stages of investment funding, the authors posit that the dearth of funding is a function of gender identity stereotypes which may be manifested in hidden and often unconscious biases on the part of the angel investor.

This study aims to examine how entrepreneurship education influences intentions for starting a technology venture among science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students with particular attention to gender differences. This study builds on the model of entrepreneurial event and social role theory to assess the impact of entrepreneurship education on feasibility, desirability and intentions for technology entrepreneurship.

The hypotheses are tested with a sample of 879 Bulgarian science and engineering students from 15 universities. To test the models, this study uses ordinary least squares and logistic regressions with robust standard errors and Hayes mediation analysis with bootstrap bias-corrected confidence interval estimations for indirect effects. Two-stage Heckman regressions to control for sample selection bias and other robustness checks including propensity score matching were used.

Results show that entrepreneurship education, measured as participation in an entrepreneurship course, has a stronger impact on feasibility, desirability and intentions for technology entrepreneurship for female STEM students compared to their male counterparts. As such, this study supports the notion that entrepreneurship education could be part of a solution to counteract societal norms that position technology entrepreneurship as a less desirable and/or less feasible choice for women in STEM. However, attention should be paid to the operationalization of entrepreneurship education, as other measures of entrepreneurship education (role models, entrepreneurship education support) did not have a moderation effect with gender.

The authors assume a positive correlation between entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial behavior. Future studies should include actual entrepreneurial behavior to paint a more complete picture of the effect of entrepreneurship education.

Little is known about the role of entrepreneurship education in the field of technology entrepreneurship, and even less about the potential gender differences in entrepreneurship education among STEM students. The study contributes to the literature by examining factors that could help close the persistent gender gap in technology entrepreneurship.

We combine insights from the strategic management and international business literatures in order to explore the moderating role of business group characteristics on the link between innovation and internationalization in the context of the pharmaceutical sector in India. We test our three hypotheses on a sample of 219 Indian pharmaceutical firms affiliated with business groups, over a five-year period (2005–2010) in a panel of 1,096 firm-year observations. Results indicate that, contrary to our contention, research expenditure is negatively associated with export intensity, implying that firms in the Indian pharmaceutical sector may face a trade-off between investing in innovation and international expansion. As expected, business group characteristics significantly impact the strength of the relationship between innovation and internationalization. Theoretical and practitioner implications are discussed.

While trust is widely recognized as central to the establishment of an effective market economy, research on transition economies has not examined sufficiently its role in promulgating economic development. This study seeks to ascertain the links between supplier trust, asset specificity, and uncertainty reduction in the context of a transition economy, and to validate a measure of trust developed in a Western developed market economy in the conditions of a transition economy.

A confirmatory factor analysis of trust, asset specificity and uncertainty reduction was performed with a sample of Bulgarian small business owners.

Commensurate with expectations, supplier trust is significantly and positively associated with both asset specificity and uncertainty reduction. The six‐item measure of supplier trust is a valid measure for new and small ventures in the context of a transition economy.

This paper demonstrates that private entrepreneurs in transition economies compensate for the lack of institutional support through embeddedness in their relational exchange network.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief history of the evolution of the Diana Project and the Diana International Research Conference. The authors examine the impact of the publications, conferences and research contributions and consider key factors in the success of this collaborative research organization. They discuss the ongoing legacy, suggesting ways to extend this into the future.

This paper uses an historical narrative and a citation analysis.

The Diana Project was founded by five women professors in 1999 with the purpose of investigating women’s access to growth capital. Following a series of academic articles, and numerous presentations, the first Diana International Conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden. At this convening, 20 scholars from 13 countries shared their knowledge of women’s entrepreneurship, venture creation and growth, culminating in the first volume of the Diana Book Series. Since then, 14 international conferences have been held, resulting in 10 special issues of top academic journals and 11 books. More than 600 scholars have attended or participated in Diana conferences or publications.

Contributions from the Diana International Conferences’ special issues of journals and books have advanced theory across topics, levels, geographies and methods. Articles emerging from Diana scholars are some of the top contributions about women’s entrepreneurship and gender to the field of entrepreneurship. Future research directions are included.

This analysis demonstrates the success of a unique woman-focused collaborative research initiative and identifies key success factors, suggesting how these might be expanded in the future.

To date, more than 600 scholars have participated in the Diana International Conferences or publications. Diana is the only community dedicated to rigorous and relevant research about gender and women’s entrepreneurship. Going forward, efforts to expand work on education for women’s entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship faculty and careers, and women entrepreneurs, gender and policy will take place to extend this legacy.

The paper is unique in that it is the first to show the substantial legacy and impact of the Diana project since its inception in 1999. Further, it demonstrates how a feminist approach to entrepreneurial principles can yield insights about this unique research initiative and collaborative organization.

Despite the important role of entrepreneurial implementation intentions for closing the intention-behavior gap, empirical evidence on their drivers and mechanisms is scant and inconclusive. In the case of college students’ technology-driven entrepreneurship, the objective of the present study is to examine whether implementation intentions are contingent on the university environment in which the progression from entrepreneurial intentions to subsequent actions unfolds. The sample for this study is composed of 299 Bulgarian STEM students, who reported technology-based entrepreneurial intentions. A binary logistic regression is applied to examine four specific mechanisms that facilitate or impede the students’ actual implementation intentions. Findings suggest that students enrolled in universities that provide greater concept development support are more likely to have formed specific implementation intentions, while students in more research-intensive universities are less likely to do so. Practitioner implications and recommendations for future research are provided.

In this chapter, we explore the effect of export exit on subsequent firm performance in a sample of 13,629 Belgian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We find that firms that stop exporting have lower profitability and profitability declines even further after they exit foreign markets. Firms that were highly dependent on revenues from exports and firms exiting multiple markets are more negatively affected, as reflected in lower post-exit survival rates and profitability. However, export duration or exiting institutionally distant markets does not have a significant impact on subsequent firm performance. Finally, although firm performance is negatively affected by exit, failed internationalization does not always lead to firm failure. Theoretical and practitioner implications are discussed.

Smaller less “glamorous” firms are more prevalent in the US economy than high‐technology companies. These small firms are known for their inability to erect barriers to imitation, making the development of competitive advantage difficult. In our paper, we study the relationship between firm resources and firm strategies. Based on the contention that the quality of a firm’s strategy cannot be judged independently of the firm resources on which it is based, we examine the relationship between firm resources and strategies in a cross‐section of over 250 small firms. Our findings indicate that small less glamorous firms should follow strategies that bring them closer to their customers, rather than innovation strategies that may be more appropriate for their high‐technology counterparts.

Entrepreneurship and the development of new business continue to be the forefront of socioeconomic development in virtually all economies today. Despite evidence of increasing research into entrepreneurial growth, the existing research is limited by the fact that most studies define entrepreneurial growth as a unidimensional construct and operationalize it as “realized” growth relying on financially based measures. Consequently, this article has two objectives: (1) to develop a set of accurate and comprehensive entrepreneurial growth measures; and (2) to test a series of hypotheses regarding precursors of growth intentions‐more specifically, to what extent, infrastructure factors affect entrepreneurial growth intentions. These two questions were examined using Entrepreneurial Profile Questionnaire (EPQ) in the context of Romania.

Results from factor analysis revealed refined patterns of entrepreneurial growth, including resource aggregation, market expansion, and technological improvement. The relationships between infrastructure and entrepreneurial growth were tested using a multiple regression model. Overall, it was posited that infrastructure is positively related to entrepreneurial growth. However, in most of the cases, the opposite proved to be true. These findings suggest that the Romanian entrepreneurs would pursue expansion plans in spite of the obstacles thrown into their path. Perhaps they have already developed strategies about overcoming those obstacles and in that process have developed the strength, ingenuity, and confidence to grow their new business ventures. Perhaps the many years that Romanians were confronted with numerous political and economical obstacles have prepared them to be much more flexible and adaptive.These counter-intuitive findings reflect on the hardiness and perseverance of the Romanian entrepreneurs.