Pub Date : 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01181-z
Jens Kaus, Jason Entsminger
{"title":"Sustainable business model innovation in rural entrepreneurial ecosystems: a conceptual framework and research agenda","authors":"Jens Kaus, Jason Entsminger","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01181-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01181-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01174-y
Yue Zhang, Bin Wang, Feifan Yang, Yijing Liao, Xiaoshu Ma, Shanshan Su
Entrepreneurial failure is both inevitable and often subject to harsh judgment from observers. Although prior research has examined various factors that shape or mitigate observers’ negative perceptions of failure, little attention has been paid to the role of the technology entrepreneurs adopt. This study investigates how the novelty of the technology used by entrepreneurs influences observers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to failure. Three laboratory studies showed that the more novel the technology adopted by the failed entrepreneur, the more likely observers were to attribute the failure to external factors, show sympathy, and buy and recommend the product/service offered by the failed entrepreneur’s second venture. We also found that observers high in involvement with technology were more likely to attribute the failure of entrepreneurs who start businesses with novel technologies to external factors than those low in involvement with technology.
{"title":"Is it too novel to succeed? How technological novelty affects observer responses to entrepreneurship failure","authors":"Yue Zhang, Bin Wang, Feifan Yang, Yijing Liao, Xiaoshu Ma, Shanshan Su","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01174-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01174-y","url":null,"abstract":"Entrepreneurial failure is both inevitable and often subject to harsh judgment from observers. Although prior research has examined various factors that shape or mitigate observers’ negative perceptions of failure, little attention has been paid to the role of the technology entrepreneurs adopt. This study investigates how the novelty of the technology used by entrepreneurs influences observers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to failure. Three laboratory studies showed that the more novel the technology adopted by the failed entrepreneur, the more likely observers were to attribute the failure to external factors, show sympathy, and buy and recommend the product/service offered by the failed entrepreneur’s second venture. We also found that observers high in involvement with technology were more likely to attribute the failure of entrepreneurs who start businesses with novel technologies to external factors than those low in involvement with technology.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01192-w
Nicolai J. Foss, Peter G. Klein, Samuele Murtinu
Knightian uncertainty is central to entrepreneurship. While the entrepreneurship literature has carefully investigated the implications of uncertainty for entrepreneurial decision-making, less is known about how uncertainty affects the entrepreneur’s ability to mobilize stakeholders in support of a new venture. Entrepreneurs and potential stakeholders, notably funders, often hold different subjective beliefs about future possibilities and their likelihood, a condition we call intersubjective uncertainty. The extent of intersubjective uncertainty depends on the novelty and opacity of entrepreneurial projects and shapes the financing strategies and outcomes of entrepreneurs in a systematic, discriminating manner. Because some level of agreement is necessary for entrepreneurs and funders to realize gains from trade, entrepreneurial strategies for reducing intersubjective uncertainty are complementary to formal contractual and ownership mechanisms that structure deals between entrepreneurs and funders. We unfold these ideas from the perspectives of new institutional economics and research on entrepreneurial stakeholder enrollment which examines the use of communication and persuasion.
{"title":"Entrepreneurial stakeholder enrollment: discriminating alignment under intersubjective uncertainty","authors":"Nicolai J. Foss, Peter G. Klein, Samuele Murtinu","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01192-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01192-w","url":null,"abstract":"Knightian uncertainty is central to entrepreneurship. While the entrepreneurship literature has carefully investigated the implications of uncertainty for entrepreneurial decision-making, less is known about how uncertainty affects the entrepreneur’s ability to mobilize stakeholders in support of a new venture. Entrepreneurs and potential stakeholders, notably funders, often hold different subjective beliefs about future possibilities and their likelihood, a condition we call <jats:italic>intersubjective uncertainty.</jats:italic> The extent of intersubjective uncertainty depends on the novelty and opacity of entrepreneurial projects and shapes the financing strategies and outcomes of entrepreneurs in a systematic, discriminating manner. Because some level of agreement is necessary for entrepreneurs and funders to realize gains from trade, entrepreneurial strategies for reducing intersubjective uncertainty are complementary to formal contractual and ownership mechanisms that structure deals between entrepreneurs and funders. We unfold these ideas from the perspectives of new institutional economics and research on entrepreneurial stakeholder enrollment which examines the use of communication and persuasion.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"412 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-16DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01201-y
Budi Harsanto, Yulistyne Kasumaningrum, Asep Mulyana, Yudi Ahmad Faisal, Elias Hadjielias
Drawing on institutional theory, this study explores underexamined factors that shape sustainable innovation in craft-based SMEs. It focuses on batik craft communities in Indonesia, which represent a constrained institutional environment for innovation. Batik – a traditional Indonesian textile art known for its intricate patterns and dye-resist techniques – holds significant cultural and economic value. Three focal factors – digitalisation, the institutional environment, and sustainability orientation – are identified from the literature and investigated using a convergent mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase comprises 22 semi-structured interviews across nine batik SMEs in prominent batik communities on Java, offering diverse perspectives and rich contextual depth. The quantitative phase applies Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC), with input from ten experts, to assess the salience and interrelationships among these factors. We find that cultural values shape digitalisation in craft-based SMEs: batik SMEs widely adopt digital tools for market-facing activities, yet remain cautious about advanced production technologies that may threaten craft authenticity. Our analysis reveals that association- and community-led support, as well as normative expectations, exert greater influence on sustainable innovation than limited government incentives. At the same time, while sustainability awareness is rising, it is not yet matched by consistent practices across the value chain. Our study offers new theoretical insights into SME sustainable innovation within craft communities and contributes a relational, normative, and dynamic process-oriented understanding of rural entrepreneurship that transcends static geographic boundaries. Additionally, it operationalises a multilevel lens for understanding how sustainable innovation unfolds in culturally rooted, craft-based SMEs.
{"title":"Sustainable innovation in craft-based SMEs: a mixed-method study of Indonesian batik communities","authors":"Budi Harsanto, Yulistyne Kasumaningrum, Asep Mulyana, Yudi Ahmad Faisal, Elias Hadjielias","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01201-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01201-y","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on institutional theory, this study explores underexamined factors that shape sustainable innovation in craft-based SMEs. It focuses on batik craft communities in Indonesia, which represent a constrained institutional environment for innovation. Batik – a traditional Indonesian textile art known for its intricate patterns and dye-resist techniques – holds significant cultural and economic value. Three focal factors – digitalisation, the institutional environment, and sustainability orientation – are identified from the literature and investigated using a convergent mixed-methods design. The qualitative phase comprises 22 semi-structured interviews across nine batik SMEs in prominent batik communities on Java, offering diverse perspectives and rich contextual depth. The quantitative phase applies Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC), with input from ten experts, to assess the salience and interrelationships among these factors. We find that cultural values shape digitalisation in craft-based SMEs: batik SMEs widely adopt digital tools for market-facing activities, yet remain cautious about advanced production technologies that may threaten craft authenticity. Our analysis reveals that association- and community-led support, as well as normative expectations, exert greater influence on sustainable innovation than limited government incentives. At the same time, while sustainability awareness is rising, it is not yet matched by consistent practices across the value chain. Our study offers new theoretical insights into SME sustainable innovation within craft communities and contributes a relational, normative, and dynamic process-oriented understanding of rural entrepreneurship that transcends static geographic boundaries. Additionally, it operationalises a multilevel lens for understanding how sustainable innovation unfolds in culturally rooted, craft-based SMEs.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"91 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147462103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-13DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01198-4
Carlos Poblete, Daniel Mahn, Cristina Acuña, Felipe Rifo
{"title":"Three faces of rural entrepreneurship: policy, lifestyle, and sustainability in a Patagonian entrepreneurial ecosystem","authors":"Carlos Poblete, Daniel Mahn, Cristina Acuña, Felipe Rifo","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01198-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01198-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147462105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-13DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01196-6
Xiangpo Chen, S. T. Boris Choy, Yuchan Lin
{"title":"Transcending climate barriers: roads to resilience for rural entrepreneurship","authors":"Xiangpo Chen, S. T. Boris Choy, Yuchan Lin","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01196-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01196-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-12DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01197-5
Joshua V. White, Kris Irwin, Cameron J. Borgholthaus, Jeffrey Cavanaugh
{"title":"Immigrant communities and rural entrepreneurship: the double-edged dynamics of business exits in rural America","authors":"Joshua V. White, Kris Irwin, Cameron J. Borgholthaus, Jeffrey Cavanaugh","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01197-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01197-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-12DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01202-x
Angelo Cavallo, Massimo Gaetano Colombo, Nicolai J. Foss
Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, generating substantial insights into their constituent elements and associated outcomes. However, the microfoundational mechanisms through which these elements and outcomes interact across levels of analysis remain poorly understood, limiting theoretical progress in the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature. This paper offers a critical examination of existing research on entrepreneurial ecosystems, including early contributions that explicitly adopt a microfoundational perspective. We argue that greater conceptual clarity is needed with respect to system-level properties and, in particular, the distinction between microfoundational elements and causal mechanisms. We emphasize the importance of developing functional microfoundations, understood as the strategic actions and interactions through which ecosystem-level elements and outcomes are generated and sustained. Drawing on illustrative examples and alternative conceptualizations of key constructs, the paper provides guidance for developing robust, mechanism-based theories that advance understanding of the microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
{"title":"Microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems: a critical commentary on future Research directions","authors":"Angelo Cavallo, Massimo Gaetano Colombo, Nicolai J. Foss","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01202-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01202-x","url":null,"abstract":"Research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has expanded rapidly over the past two decades, generating substantial insights into their constituent elements and associated outcomes. However, the microfoundational mechanisms through which these elements and outcomes interact across levels of analysis remain poorly understood, limiting theoretical progress in the entrepreneurial ecosystems literature. This paper offers a critical examination of existing research on entrepreneurial ecosystems, including early contributions that explicitly adopt a microfoundational perspective. We argue that greater conceptual clarity is needed with respect to system-level properties and, in particular, the distinction between microfoundational elements and causal mechanisms. We emphasize the importance of developing functional microfoundations, understood as the strategic actions and interactions through which ecosystem-level elements and outcomes are generated and sustained. Drawing on illustrative examples and alternative conceptualizations of key constructs, the paper provides guidance for developing robust, mechanism-based theories that advance understanding of the microfoundations of entrepreneurial ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-11DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01194-8
Nicola Cortinovis
Entrepreneurs in rural areas face much greater difficulties than those located in cities, also with respect to the access to entrepreneurial finance. Recent developments in the provision of capital, however, have opened new opportunities for small firms and start-ups to obtain funding. In this empirical work, I hypothesize that crowdfunding provides crucial resources and support for rural-based entrepreneurs and that rural areas characterized by greater (bridging) social capital are better positioned to benefit from the opportunities of crowdfunding. Using a newly developed database linking crowdfunding campaigns to industry and counties in the U.S. (KIUS), county-level information on social capital and official U.S. census data, I test these hypotheses. My findings indicate that crowdfunding is indeed positively related to the number of ventures operating in the industry-location in the following period. In addition, this relationship is stronger for counties with higher levels of bridging social capital and of civic engagement. The results are robust to a number of checks, including a placebo test and matching exercises.
{"title":"Does crowdfunding foster rural entrepreneurship?","authors":"Nicola Cortinovis","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01194-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01194-8","url":null,"abstract":"Entrepreneurs in rural areas face much greater difficulties than those located in cities, also with respect to the access to entrepreneurial finance. Recent developments in the provision of capital, however, have opened new opportunities for small firms and start-ups to obtain funding. In this empirical work, I hypothesize that crowdfunding provides crucial resources and support for rural-based entrepreneurs and that rural areas characterized by greater (bridging) social capital are better positioned to benefit from the opportunities of crowdfunding. Using a newly developed database linking crowdfunding campaigns to industry and counties in the U.S. (KIUS), county-level information on social capital and official U.S. census data, I test these hypotheses. My findings indicate that crowdfunding is indeed positively related to the number of ventures operating in the industry-location in the following period. In addition, this relationship is stronger for counties with higher levels of bridging social capital and of civic engagement. The results are robust to a number of checks, including a placebo test and matching exercises.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147461952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-06DOI: 10.1007/s11187-026-01203-w
Niclas Berggren
{"title":"Entrepreneurship under ambiguity: extending Aghion and Howitt","authors":"Niclas Berggren","doi":"10.1007/s11187-026-01203-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-026-01203-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147368050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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