St. Petersburg State University
Graduate School of Management
WORKING PAPER
T. Manolova, G. Shirokova, T. Tsukanova, L. Edelman
THE IMPACT OF FAMILY SUPPORT
ON YOUNG NASCENT ENTREPRENEURS’
START-UP ACTIVITIES:
A FAMILY EMBEDDEDNESS PERSPECTIVE
#
2 (E)–2014
Saint Petersburg
2014
T. Manolova, G. Shirokova, T. Tsukanova, L. Edelman. The Impact of
Family Support on Young Nascent Entrepreneurs’s Start-Up Activities: A
Family Embeddedness Perspective. Working Paper # 2 (E)–2014. Graduate
School of Management, St. Petersburg State University: SPb, 2014.
Keywords and phrases: nascent entrepreneurs, family capital, student entrepreneurship, start-up activities, embeddedness, cohesiveness, GUESSS
Study
Abstract: In this paper we explore the factors associated with the
scope of start-up activities among young nascent entrepreneurs. Taking a
family embeddedness perspective, and drawing on literature from nascent
entrepreneurship, start-up activities, and student entrepreneurship, we hypothesize that the scope of start-up activities of young nascent student entrepreneurs is positively associated with family support in the form of different types of family capital; financial, social, human, and physical. We
further argue that the effect of family support on young nascent entrepreneurs’ start-up activities is positively moderated by the level of family cohesiveness. We test our hypotheses using data from the 2011 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students Survey (GUESSS) which covers
93,625 students from 26 countries. We find that the effects of family support on young nascent entrepreneurs’ start-up activity are complex and
multi-faceted. Implications for theory, public policy, and managerial practice are discussed.
Research has been conducted with financial support from Russian Science Foundation grant (project No. 14-18-01093)
Tatiana Manolova — Associate Professor, Business Policy and Strategy,
Bentley University
e-mail: tmanolova@bentley.edu
Galina Shirokova — Professor, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University
e-mail: shirokova@gsom.pu.ru
Tatyana Tsukanova — Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg State University
e-mail: tsukanova@gsom.pu.ru
Linda Edelman — Associate Professor, Business Policy and Strategy,
Bentley University
email: ledelman@bentley.edu
Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5
Theory and Hypotheses ................................................................................... 7
Method ............................................................................................................ 16
Results ............................................................................................................. 24
Discussion ....................................................................................................... 28
References ....................................................................................................... 35