ABSTRACT

This study examines how entrepreneurial human capital affects the resource mobilization process in new ventures, specifically the likelihood of using informal ties (i.e. family and friends) in their hiring process. Building on human capital arguments, we theorize that the higher the entrepreneur’s formal educational attainment, the greater the likelihood that they will go against the norm of hiring through informal ties. Given the centrality of gender in the relationship between entrepreneurship and family embeddedness, we evaluate the moderating role of gender on the relationship between formal education and the hiring process. Empirical findings from logistic regression analyses of 1,114 new ventures in Nigeria provide broad support for the theoretical framework. These findings contribute to our understanding of individual-level forces that influence the persistence of, or decreased reliance on, informal institutions in entrepreneurial activity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

摘要

本研究考察创业人力资本如何影响新企业的资源调动过程，特别是在招聘过程中使用非正式关系（即家人和朋友）的可能性。基于人力资本论点，我们的理论是，企业家的正规教育程度越高，他们越有可能违反通过非正式关系进行招聘的规范。鉴于性别在创业与家庭嵌入关系中的中心地位，我们评估了性别对正规教育与招聘过程之间关系的调节作用。对尼日利亚 1,114 家新企业的逻辑回归分析的实证结果为理论框架提供了广泛的支持。