Abstract
Seniors strive to achieve aging well by engaging in entrepreneurial activities subsequent to ceasing their organizational employment. While this is a common practice in many societies, scant research exists on what motivates seniors to engage in entrepreneurial activities once they end their formal employment. We adopt the self-determination theory (SDT) to investigate the effects of goal contents and motives on the well-being among seniors who launch their entrepreneurship journeys. Based on in-depth interviews with senior entrepreneurs in China, India, and Turkey, we contribute to extant knowledge by linking separate paradigms. These are as follows: goal contents and intrinsic motivation-driven entrepreneurship, management of inner and outer challenges, and achievement of the eventual outcome of aging well. We also investigate the culture-specific drivers of senior entrepreneurship in a comparative framework.
Plain English Summary
The implication of this study is that senior entrepreneurs bring complex web of intrinsic motivations for their entrepreneurial acts with the impact on their well-being and produce societal benefits. The cultural dimensions also play a significant role in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.
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Zhu, Y., Collins, A., Xu, Z. et al. Achieving aging well through senior entrepreneurship: a three-country empirical study. Small Bus Econ 59, 665–689 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00564-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-021-00564-8