Comparing entrepreneurial communities: Theory and evidence from a cross-country study in Asia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare entrepreneurial attributes of MBA students, the next generation business people, from two important Asian countries, India from South Asia and Japan from East Asia (India, being an emerging country and Japan, a developed country).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey responses from MBA students in India and Japan were measured on an entrepreneurial personality index. Bateman and Crant’s scale consisting of 17 traits is used to identify if entrepreneurial traits are a learned cultural behaviour or intrinsic personality factors.

Findings

Although the findings indicate that India has benefitted from entrepreneurship in the information technology and information technology-enabled service ventures during the past two decades, the country still has a long way to go when compared to developed countries like Japan, where entrepreneurship is widespread.

Research limitations/implications

The results are based on a single survey, using cross-sectional data.

Originality/value

The level of entrepreneurship differs considerably across countries and periods. The authors put forward a theoretical framework to denote the linkage between entrepreneurial attitude, pro-active personality and culture, besides highlighting the three pillars of entrepreneurship.

Citation

Paul, J. and Shrivastava, A. (2015), "Comparing entrepreneurial communities: Theory and evidence from a cross-country study in Asia", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 206-220. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-06-2013-0018