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Transition from part-time entrepreneurship to full-time entrepreneurship: the role of financial and non-financial motives

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Abstract

Part-time entrepreneurship is often a first step towards full-time entrepreneurship. This study analyzes how financial and non-financial motives of part-time entrepreneurs influence the propensity of part-time entrepreneurs to become full-time entrepreneurs. Our results show that the motivation to supplement wage income or the motivation to achieve social recognition is negatively associated with transition behavior, whereas the motivation to achieve independence or self-realization is positively associated with transition behavior. The motivation to follow a role model, financial success, and innovation are not significantly related to transition behavior. The implications of these results with regard to part-time entrepreneurship are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Health insurance is obligatory in Germany. Employers cover half of the costs. Full-time entrepreneurs must pay the entire amount themselves.

  2. Information for the raffle was stored in a separate data base with no possibility of matching it with responses. A total of 625 EUR in shopping vouchers was entered into the raffle.

  3. For the robustness check, we attributed transition = 1 also to individuals who decided to transition and had thought intensively about a transition.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Marco van Elkan, Thorsten Semrau, and an anonymous reviewer for their valuable inputs during the research project. Both authors contributed equally.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Jörn H. Block & Andreas Landgraf

  2. Erasmus School of Economics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Jörn H. Block

  3. ERIM, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Jörn H. Block

  4. Professur für Unternehmensführung, Fachbereich IV, Universität Trier, Universitätsring 15, DM Gebäude, 54296, Trier, Germany

    Andreas Landgraf

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  1. Jörn H. Block
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Correspondence to Andreas Landgraf.

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Block, J.H., Landgraf, A. Transition from part-time entrepreneurship to full-time entrepreneurship: the role of financial and non-financial motives. Int Entrep Manag J 12, 259–282 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-014-0331-6

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