Institutional drivers of born-public ventures
Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy
ISSN: 2045-2101
Article publication date: 12 March 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and theoretically delineate the government-based institutional drivers of “born-public ventures” – ventures that seek to fulfill government contracts or sell goods and services to government agencies.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop theory that explains how the government influences the pursuit of public sector opportunities, thereby influencing where new ventures expend their finite effort. Specifically, the authors use institutional theory to delineate the regulatory, cognitive, and normative drivers of born-public ventures. In doing so, the authors highlight both the government’s regulative and non-regulative institutional influences. Finally, the authors present a research agenda to encourage further understanding of this important phenomenon.
Findings
The authors find that the government can affect the allocation of finite entrepreneurial effort toward or away from public sector opportunities by using regulative, normative, and cognitive institutional forces. This influence is important because entrepreneurship targeted at the public sector likely has broad implications for the economy and society as a whole.
Originality/value
Despite recent attention to questions about entrepreneurial allocation, scholars have largely overlooked the importance of why some new ventures choose to allocate their effort toward public sector opportunities. Given the growing number of public sector opportunities and the potential economic and societal implications associated with pursuing these opportunities, research is needed to understand this allocative choice. By introducing the phenomenon of born-public ventures and outlining important research questions, this theoretical paper provides the foundation for further work on this topic.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The second and third authors contributed equally to the development of this manuscript and are listed alphabetically.
Citation
DeGhetto, K., Sutton, T. and Zorn, M.L. (2018), "Institutional drivers of born-public ventures", Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 14-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-D-17-00012
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited