REGLAMENTO GENERAL A LA LEY ORGÁNICA DE EDUCACIÓN

As described in detail in each of the literature chapters, this study addresses several critical gaps in the research, which are summarised below and listed in Table 6.1.

6.2.1 Contingencies to human capital and social capital

Previous research finds inconsistent effects of entrepreneurs’ human capital (Brüderl et al., 1992; Crook et al., 2011; Davidsson and Honig, 2003; Unger et al., 2011) and social capital (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986; Florin et al., 2003; Stam et al., 2014) on venture outcomes. Scholars have therefore called for examination of contingencies influencing the effect of human capital (Marvel et al., 2016; Unger et al., 2011) and social capital (Adler and Kwon, 2002; Martinez and Aldrich, 2011) on new ventures. Despite a growing literature on the effects of psychological capital on individual and firm outcomes (Newman et al., 2014b), the moderating influence of psychological capital has received scant attention, with a few studies focusing on employees (Abbas

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et al., 2013; Cheung et al., 2011; Roberts et al., 2011) and none, to my knowledge, addressing entrepreneurs.

Psychological capital scholars propose that it is a resource that has the potential to make a great difference under highly challenging conditions (Luthans and Youssef, 2004), although this proposition has not been fully tested empirically. Yet there remains a lack of understanding regarding the influence of the entrepreneur’s psychological resources on the use of other resources such as social capital, which has shown inconsistent results in previous studies (Gedajilovic et al., 2013). Psychological capital is conceptualised as a motivational resource that can have both enhancing and buffering influences. Applying this concept to entrepreneurs intends to fill a gap in the research regarding how psychological factors, motivation, and personality affect one’s ability to deploy networks to generate value (Kilduff and Brass, 2010; Kodithuwakku and Rosa, 2002; Stam et al., 2014).

6.2.2 The down side of social capital, the resource dimension, and guanxi

Despite copious research on social capital and entrepreneurs (Aldrich and Zimmer 1986; Cope et al., 2007; Shane, 2003; Stam et al., 2014), researchers tend to focus on the benefits of social networks and much less on the down side, especially regarding the disadvantages to individuals from their own networks (Adler and Kwon, 2002). The empirical literature examining the negative impacts of social ties on business outcomes is sparse (Kreiser et al., 2013; Luo et al., 2012), inspiring calls for greater attention to this topic (Gedajlovic et al., 2013; Hoang and Yi, 2015). Similarly, in the Chinese context, researchers have expressed interest in further work on down sides of

guanxi-type networks, as well as contingencies influencing whether effects are positive or negative (Chen et al., 2013; Luo et al., 2012).

In addition to this gap, there is a need for more nuanced and integrated perspectives on social networks and entrepreneurs. While early research often took a structural approach, for instance, regarding network patterns and position, and later work adopted a more relational approach, examining strong and weak ties, few studies have addressed the resource dimension of networks (Batjargal, 2003; Gedajlovic et al.,

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2013; Lin, 1999). Researchers have therefore recommended more research addressing the specific resources which can be accessed via network ties (Gedajlovic et al., 2013; Kilduff and Brass, 2010). In this study, integrating structural, relational, and resource approaches to social capital may also shed light on the unresolved question regarding the effects of strong versus weak ties on firm outcomes (Elfring and Hulsink, 2007; Hite and Hesterley, 2001).

6.2.3 Contextualisation of research to China and to small-scale ventures

Much entrepreneurship research (as well as research on human, social and psychological capital) has been carried out in highly developed economic and institutional contexts, such as the US and Europe. There remains a need to better contextualise research to a range of settings (Meyer, 2015), re-evaluating approaches from highly developed markets for relevance to specific settings in emerging markets (Kiss et al., 2012). Unique conditions often favour different entrepreneurial strategies (Manev and Manolova, 2010), so that factors that are relevant in one setting become more pronounced in another setting. In the process of contextualising, it is also valuable to question previous assumptions (Zahra, 2007), for instance, the positive effects of social capital. As such, exploring research in different settings and paying attention to context is not only important for developing a more accurate understanding of what works best in the specific context in question, but also for developing a more complete general theory.

Contextualisation matters (Meyer, 2015; Tsui, 2006) because conditions differ greatly in terms of institutional development and access to resources for entrepreneurs (Ahlstrom and Ding, 2014). For instance, Chinese micro-entrepreneurs face scarcity in human capital endowments due to constraints on education and business experience (Atherton and Smallbone, 2013; Chu et al., 2001). In addition, the value of social networks varies under different institutional and cultural contexts (Batjargal, 2010; Stam et al., 2014). In China, guanxi-type social networks have traditionally been valuable for gaining access to resources and surmounting institutional obstacles, but also entail obligations and reciprocity (Park and Luo, 2001; Tsui et al., 2000). Finally, psychological capital has been little explored among entrepreneurs in this context.

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There is therefore a need for greater application and adaptation of these constructs to the Chinese context to understand their influence as well as the boundaries of this influence.

6.2.4 Mechanisms and processes of necessity-based entrepreneurs

The research gap for necessity-based entrepreneurship is particularly acute (Bruton et al., 2008). The growing body of literature on enterprise in emerging economies tends to focus on high-growth ventures in affluent urban settings. There is a dearth of management research on small-scale and necessity-based entrepreneurship amongst individuals outside these affluent locations (Bruton et al., 2013), especially quantitative research at the level of the individual entrepreneur, including recipients of microfinance loans (Khavul, 2010). While development scholars have studied this phenomenon from a micro-economics perspective (Armendáriz and Morduch, 2010; Banerjee et al., 2010; Karlan and Zinman, 2011), these studies tend to focus on lending programmes and the provision of financial capital. Studies of the individual micro-entrepreneurs and the businesses they launch have been rare (Bruton et al., 2011), despite the value that management scholars can bring to “explanatory forms of research” on this topic (Newman et al., 2014a: 171).

114 Table 6.1 Research Gaps

Contingencies to human and social capital, and the role of psychological capital

1 Understanding how contingencies influence the effect of entrepreneurs’ human capital and social capital on venture outcomes

2 Analysing the moderating (as well as main) effect of psychological capital on firm revenue, applying psychological capital in a new way

The down side and resource aspect of social networks and guanxi

3 Understanding the positive and negative influence of guanxi-type social network ties in the context of China’s economic transition

4 Analysing the resource dimension of networks to clarify previously inconsistent effects of social network size and strength on performance

Contextualisation to the Chinese setting

5 Contextualising entrepreneurship research and concepts to a relationship-oriented culture in which market-based enterprise is a fairly recent phenomenon

Small-scale entrepreneurship in emerging markets

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Expanding the sparse management literature to understand mechanisms influencing performance of micro and small entrepreneurs, including those receiving small and microfinance loans