Abstract:
Research is rare on opting out of entrepreneurship by the second generation in business families. We theorize
on why those who have the specific resources and adequate competencies for promising entrepreneurial
careers, choose to opt out. We identify two sources of entrepreneur resource endowments for second
generation entrepreneur potentials – (a) being born in a business community endows them network resources
and (b) being born in a business family endows them business and family resources. We consider two sources
of entrepreneur competence among those endowed – (a) business competence built by assisting in their family
business as teenagers and (b) business competence built through formal education in business beyond their
teenage years. Literature suggests that these four factors should help initiate entrepreneurial careers, but their
relative and cumulative effect is not known. However, we find many in the second generation in business
families not interested in an entrepreneurial career, even if it means taking charge and growing an ongoing
family business. We theorize on why each of these factors individually and in specific combinations may
result in the second generation opting out of promising entrepreneurial careers. We suggest remedial
measures that may reduce opting out by high potential second generation entrepreneurs.
Description:
Thirteenth Biennial Conference on Entrepreneurship/ Edited by Sasi Misra, Sunil Shukla, Ganapathi Batthini
