Guest Editors:
Ying Chen, Fujian Normal University/Nanjing University of Science and Technology (China)
Gao Wu, Nanjing University of Science and Technology (China)
Mette Søgaard Nielsen, Martin Senderovitz, & Simon Fietze, University of Southern Denmark

Special Issue

The importance of entrepreneurship as a driver of employment, innovation and national competitiveness has been widely acknowledged, as indicated with the European Commission’s recent Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan. Research into early stages of the start-up process – also termed nascent entrepreneurship (Davidsson, 2006) – reveals that combinations of factors on the individual (Unger et al. 2011; e.g. risk willingness, self-efficacy), team (Ruef & Aldrich, 2003; e. g. team size, team diversity), venture (Senderovitz et al., 2016; e. g. strategy, industry), environmental levels (Klyver et al., 2013; e. g. social networks, legislation, culture) affect idea generation, entrepreneurial intentions, start-up behaviour, and finally whether newly founded businesses survive, grow and generate profit.

It is increasingly recognized that in order to understand nascent entrepreneurship, it is insufficient to study factors individually; rather, nascent entrepreneurship is a multi-level phenomenon that requires investigations into how factors – in combination and across levels – function to influence the start-up process. For instance, the value of the resources in form of trust obtained from social networks might depend on the level of self-efficacy of the individual (Carolis et al., 2009) or on how collectivistic a nation’s culture is (Rooks et al., 2016).

China has become an increasingly important economic entity and the Chinese government has put much attention to entrepreneurial activities. They have recognized entrepreneurship as one of the key drivers of sustainable economic development. The government puts a lot of efforts to encourage and facilitate entrepreneurial activity (He, 2018). China, therefore, provides an important and interesting context to explore entrepreneurial activities from different perspectives and levels. Alongside the emergence and growth of entrepreneurial activities in the huge transitional economy, there is a need and great opportunities for further entrepreneurship research.

Therefore, this call for papers invites both empirical studies and theoretical papers that helps understanding how various factors, in combination and across levels, impact entrepreneurship in China, including idea generation, entrepreneurial intentions, start-up behaviour, and start-up performance.

References

• Davidsson, P. (2006). Nascent Entrepreneurship: Empirical Studies and Developments. Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 1-76. 
  
• De Carolis, D. M., Litzky, B. E., & Eddleston, K. A. (2009). Why networks enhance the progress of new venture creation: The influence of social capital and cognition. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 33(2), 527-545.
  
• He, C., Lu, J. & Qian, H. (2018). Entrepreneurship in China. Small Business Econmics. doi:10.1007/s11187-017-9972-5
  
• Klyver, K., Nielsen, S. L., & Evald, M. R. (2013). Women’s self-employment: An act of institutional (dis) integration? A multilevel, cross-country study. Journal of Business Venturing, 28(4), 474-488.
  
• Ruef, M., Aldrich, H. E., & Carter, N. M. (2003). The structure of founding teams: Homophily, strong ties, and isolation among US entrepreneurs. American Sociological Review, 195-222.
  
• Rooks, G., Klyver, K., & Sserwanga, A. (2016). The context of social capital: A comparison of rural and urban entrepreneurs in Uganda. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(1), 111-130.
  
• Senderovitz, M., Klyver, K., & Steffens, P. (2016). Four years on: Are the gazelles still running? A longitudinal study of firm performance after a period of rapid growth. International Small Business Journal, 34(4), 391-411.
  
• Unger, J. M., Rauch, A., Frese, M., & Rosenbusch, N. (2011). Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(3), 341-358.
  

Deadline
Full papers for this special issue of management revue – Socio-Economic Studies must be submitted by May 31, 2019. All contributions will be subject to double-blind review. Papers invited to a “revise and resubmit” are due January 31, 2020. The publication is scheduled for issue 3/2020. Please submit your papers electronically via the online submission system at http://www.mrev.nomos.de/ using “SI Nascent Entrepreneurship” as article section.

Submission Guidelines
Manuscript length should not exceed 8,000 words (excluding references) and the norm should be 30 pages in double-spaced type with margins of about 3 cm (1 inch) on each side of the page. Further, please follow the guidelines on the journal’s website and submit the papers electronically by sending a “blind” copy of your manuscript (delete all author identification from this primary document).

Hoping to hear from you!
Ying Chen
Gao Wu
Mette Søgaard Nielsen
Martin Senderovitz
Simon Fietze