Abstract
One of the objectives of any country is to improve its economy by encouraging entrepreneurial activity. To that end, states, as well as companies, must create an image of viability and legitimacy before being able to receive any support. This study suggests that a country with greater legitimacy will obtain higher entrepreneurial activity, which will be moderated by the risk perceived by entrepreneurs. Through a research carried out on the eight most populated countries of the Eurozone, the existence of a positive trend between countries’ legitimacy and their entrepreneurial activity is presented. Likewise, the study indicates that the risk perceived by the entrepreneurs has a negative relation with respect to countries’ legitimacy.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aidis R (2005) Institutional barriers to small- and medium-sized enterprise operations in transition countries. Small Bus Econ 25(4):305–317
Aldrich HE, Fiol CM (1994) Fools rush in? The institutional context of industry creation. Acad Manage Rev 19(4):645–670
Andrews JC et al (2004) Understanding adolescent intentions to smoke: an examination of relationships among social influence, prior trial behavior, and antitobacco campaign advertising. J Market 68(3):110–123
Arenius P, Minniti M (2005) Perceptual variables and nascent entrepreneurship. Small Bus Econ 24(3):233–247
Bansal P, Clelland I (2004) Talking trash: legitimacy, impression management, and unsystematic risk in the context of the natural environment. Acad Manage J 47(1):93–103
Baron RM, Kenny DA (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol 51(6):1173–1182
Bitektine A (2011) Toward a theory of social judgments of organizations: the case of legitimacy, reputation, and status. Acad Manage Rev 36(1):151–179
Bleaney M, Nishiyama A (2002) Explaining growth: a contest between models. J Econ Growth 7(1):43–56
Brønn PS, Vidaver-Cohen D (2008) Corporate motives for social initiative: legitimacy, sustainability, or the bottom line? J Bus Ethics 87(S1):91–109
Bruton GD, Alhstrom D (2003) An institutional view of China’s venture capital industry: explaining the differences between China and the West. J Bus Ventur 18(2):233–259
Cohen B, Dean T (2005) Information asymmetry and investor valuation of IPOs: top management team legitimacy as a capital market signal. Strateg Manage J 26(7):683–690
Cruz-Suárez A, Prado-Román C, Díez-Martín F (2014a) Por qué se institucionalizan las organizaciones. Revista Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa 23(1):22–30
Cruz-Suárez A, Díez-Martín F, Blanco-González A, Prado-Román C (2014b) Análisis de las relaciones entre la legitimidad organizativa, sus fuentes y dimensiones. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia 19(65):9–22
De Clercq D, Danis WM, Dakhli M (2010) The moderating effect of institutional context on the relationship between associational activity and new business activity in emerging economies. Int Bus Rev 19(1):85–101
Deephouse D, Carter S (2005) An examination of differences between organizational legitimacy and organizational reputation. J Manage Stud 42(2):329–360
Deephouse D, Suchman M (2008) Legitimacy in organizational institutionalism. In: Greenwood K, Oliver R, Suddaby C, Sahlin-Andersson R (eds) The sage handbook of organizational institutionalism. Sage, London, pp 49–77
Desai VM (2008) Constrained growth: how experience, legitimacy, and age influence risk taking in organizations. Organ Sci 19(4):594–608
Díez-Martín F, Blanco-González A, Prado-Román C (2010a) Legitimidad como factor clave del éxito organizativo. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa 16(3):127–143
Díez-Martín F, Blanco-González A, Prado-Román C (2010b) Measuring organizational legitimacy: the case of mutual guarantee societies. Cuadernos de Economía y Dirección de la Empresa 43(junio):115–144
Díez-Martín F, Prado-Roman C, Blanco-González A (2013a) Beyond legitimacy: legitimacy types and organizational success. Manage Decis 51(10):3
Díez-Martín F, Prado-Roman C, Blanco-González A (2013b) Efecto del plazo de ejecución estratégica sobre la obtención de legitimidad organizativa. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa 19(2):120–125
DiMaggio P, Powell W (1983) The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. Am Sociol Rev 48(2):147–160
Higgins M, Gulati R (2006) Stacking the deck: the effects of top management backgrounds on investor decisions. Strateg Manage J 27(1):1–25
Hopp C, Stephan U (2012) The influence of socio-cultural environments on the performance of nascent entrepreneurs: community culture, motivation, self-efficacy and start-up success. Entrep Region Dev 24(9–10):917–945
Jennings PD et al (2013) Institutions, entrepreneurs, and communities: a special issue on entrepreneurship. J Bus Ventur 28(1):1–9
Kwon S-W, Arenius P (2010) Nations of entrepreneurs: a social capital perspective. J Bus Ventur 25(3):315–330
Lamberti L, Lettieri E (2011) Gaining legitimacy in converging industries: evidence from the emerging market of functional food. Eur Manage J 29(6):462–475
Liñán F, Santos FJ, Fernández J (2011) The influence of perceptions on potential entrepreneurs. Int Entrep Manage J 7(3):373–390
Meyer J, Rowan B (1977) Institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. Am J Sociol 83(2):340–363
North D (1990) Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Oliver C (1991) Strategic responses to institutional processes. Acad Manage Rev 16(1):145–179
Pollack JM, Rutherford MW, Nagy BG (2012) Preparedness and cognitive legitimacy as antecedents of new venture funding in televised business pitches. Entrep Theory Pract 36(5):915–939
Riquel Ligero FJ, Vargas Sánchez A (2013) Las presiones institucionales del entorno medioambiental: aplicación a los campos de golf. Revista Europea de Dirección y Economía de la Empresa 22(1):29–38
Ruef M, Scott W (1998) A multidimensional model of organizational legitimacy: hospital survival in changing institutional environments. Adm Sci Q 43(4):877–904
Shane S, Locke EA, Collins CJ (2003) Entrepreneurial motivation. Human Res Manage Rev 13(2):257–279
Simon M, Houghton SM, Aquino K (2000) Cognitive biases, risk perception, and venture formation. J Bus Ventur 15(2):113–134
Starr JA, MacMillan IC (1990) Resource cooptation via social contracting: resource acquisition strategies for new ventures. Strateg Manage J 11(4):79–92
Stenholm P, Acs ZJ, Wuebker R (2013) Exploring country-level institutional arrangements on the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity. J Bus Ventur 28(1):176–193
Suchman MC (1995) Managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches. Acad Manage Rev 20(3):571
Tornikoski ET, Newbert SL (2007) Exploring the determinants of organizational emergence: a legitimacy perspective. J Bus Ventur 22(2):311–335
Veciana J, Urbano D (2008) The institutional approach to entrepreneurship research. Introduction. Int Entrep Manage J 4(4):365–379
Wang T, Song M, Zhao YL (2014) Legitimacy and the value of early customers. J Prod Innovat Manag. doi: 10.1111/jpim.12144
Young MN et al (2014) Strategy in emerging economies and the theory of the firm. Asia Pac J Manag. doi: 10.1007/s10490-014-9373-0
Zimmerman MA, Zeitz GJ (2002) Beyond survival: achieving new venture growth by building legitimacy. Acade Manage Rev 27(3):414
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cruz-Suárez, A., Prado-Román, C., Escamilla-Solano, S. (2015). Nations of Entrepreneurs: A Legitimacy Perspective. In: Peris-Ortiz, M., Sahut, JM. (eds) New Challenges in Entrepreneurship and Finance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08888-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08888-4_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08887-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08888-4
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)