Uncertainty and Resource Constraints in the Small Island Developing States: Essays in Entrepreneurial Cognition
Richard Martina, UNU-MERIT / School of Governance
This dissertation is concerned with the entrepreneurial decision-making that takes place under uncertainty and resource constraints in the context of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Three related entrepreneurial phenomena are studied through multiple cases and fsQCA: the emergence of the ‘born-global’ firms, new-to-the-world innovations that emerge from penurious environments, and the use of the affordable loss heuristic to make the entrepreneurial entry decision. The results show that entrepreneurs in the SIDS context are flexible and apply the effectual, causal and bricolage logics in combination. Furthermore, the gap between the entrepreneur’s technical knowledge and the technical knowledge required to developing the product influences how the entrepreneur leverages his or her social network in the process to becoming ‘born-global’ firms. In addition, the effectual approach is incomplete as a framework to understand new-to-the-world innovations that emerge from the SIDS context. A framework consisting of causation, effectuation, and entrepreneurial bricolage is superior. Finally, an entrepreneur that uses the affordable loss heuristic when making an investment considers what he or she can invest, and what he or she is willing to invest. If what he or she can invest is larger than what he or she is willing to invest, the entrepreneur will make the entry.
Venue: Aula, Minderbroedersberg 4-6, Maastricht
Date: 22 November 2016
Time: 16:00 - 17:30 CET
