7th GIKA conference

Entrepreneurial Climate and Self-Perceptions about Entrepreneurship: A Country Comparison using fsQCA with Dual Outcome Versions

This study investigates the relationship between the Entrepreneurial Climate (EC) and Self-Perceptions about Entrepreneurship (SPaE). Specifically, the research examines variables that can be seen as most closely related to Entrepreneurial Capacity and Preferences in the GEM framework, across a large sample of countries, the variables and data derived from the GEM dataset and framework. With four items describing SPaE, two forms of single outcome variable measure are constructed from them, namely when a simple factor analysis based score is found (SPaEF) and when a fuzzy cluster analysis produces a two cluster solution based measure (SPaEC). FsQCA analyses are undertaken to investigate the association of three condition variables describing EC (Economic Stage of Development, Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions and Entrepreneurial Status), in regard to SPaE and not-SPaE, using seperately the derived outcome variable measures, SPaEF and SPaEC. Further, having the two outcomes implying the same concept (SPaE), they appropriate a discussion on what can/should we do to facilitate ‘same concept’ based fsQCA analyses. The findings open up interesting thoughts on the efficacy of fsQCA in this regard, including on the issue of outcome and not-outcome consistency threshold assignment, as well as applied issues surrounding entrepreneurship (EC and SPaE).