Search Results

I investigate the mechanisms that drive sorting into entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial success among young individuals. I use Canadian matched owner-employer employee data to conduct my investigation. Empirically, older entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who have previously worked in high-wage firms tend to do better. To explain these findings, I develop a dynamic Roy model of career choice that features heterogeneous employers, human capital accumulation, and unobserved heterogeneity across individuals. Among other things, I find that prior work experience is particularly valuable for 'subsistence' entrepreneurs. I use the estimated model to evaluate policies designed to promote entrepreneurship.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

The persistently high employment share of the informal sector makes entrepreneurship a necessity for youth in many developing countries. We exploit exogenous variation in the implementation of Rwanda's entrepreneurship education reform in secondary schools to evaluate its effect on student economic outcomes up to three years after graduation. Using a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated a three-year intensive training for entrepreneurship teachers, finding pedagogical changes as intended and increased entrepreneurial activity among students. In this paper, we tracked students following graduation and found that increased entrepreneurship persisted one year later, in 2019.

Students from treated schools were six percentage points more likely to be entrepreneurs, an increase of 19 per cent over the control mean. However, gains in entrepreneurship faded after three years, in 2021. Employment was six percentage points lower in the treatment group. By some measures, income and profits were lower in the treatment group, with no robust differences in these outcomes overall. Lower incomes and profits were concentrated among marginal students induced into entrepreneurship by the program. Youth entrepreneurship programs may therefore steer some participants away from their comparative advantage. Nonetheless, the program increased university enrollment, suggesting the potential for higher long run returns.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This toolkit equips young entrepreneurs with resources to promote gender equality and inclusivity in their businesses. This toolkit provides a pathway for transformative change, enabling entrepreneurs to cultivate an inclusive workplace that attracts and retains a gender-diverse talent pool. It aims to raise awareness of gender biases and discrimination, offering practical measures for addressing them. Whether you are a new entrepreneur or experienced, the toolkit provides concrete action to assess policies, implement gender equality strategies and drive organizational change. Explore the eleven key pillars for advancing gender equality with self-assessment tools, practical strategies, editable worksheets, and additional resources.

Edited summary from publisher's website. Show less

Purpose: The practice of social entrepreneurship has grown rapidly around the world, including in Malaysia where it is still considered to be at an early stage. Nevertheless, little is known about the career transition among youth who choose careers as social entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges faced by youth social entrepreneurs who run social enterprises in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data to answer the research questions. Seven youth social entrepreneurs were interviewed until data saturation was met. An interview guide was created for the purposes of conducting the interviews. The interviews were recorded using a voice recorder. Data were transcribed verbatim and grouped in order to identify the codings, categories and themes. Findings: The findings show the career transition to become a social entrepreneur, as well as the major challenges that youth social entrepreneurs face, which include acclimatising to the life and career of a social entrepreneur and not getting support from family.

Practical implications: The study findings are also significant for presenting valuable data on the experience of the developing social entrepreneur. The qualitative nature of the study provides valuable experiential insight into the lives and struggles of young social entrepreneurs in Malaysia. The findings will allow local authorities and social entrepreneurship regulatory agencies to design initiatives and plan actions intended to overcome the challenges. Originality/value: This study makes an original contribution by showing that the process of career development as a social entrepreneur has given meaning to the informants. Despite presenting many challenges, social entrepreneurship has reinforced the role of youth social entrepreneurs, especially in relation to social responsibility.

Published abstract. Show less

Currently, the youth entrepreneurship movement in Vietnam is developing strongly and widely, the initial results of the movement have made an important contribution to the overall success of the country's renewal process. Taking place in the context of our country's increasing international integration with both opportunities and challenges intertwined, the youth entrepreneurship movement is also being profoundly affected and influenced, and many new problems arise from very difficult and complicated birth. Therefore, to help the movement develop quickly and sustainably and meet the requirements of the current international integration process, it is necessary to continue to further promote entrepreneurship education for Vietnamese youth promptly and comprehensively towards modernity and innovation.

Published abstract. Show less

Several ministries in Indonesia are providing entrepreneurship training to the youth in a move to harness the demographic bonus amid persistently high unemployment rates among young people. Incubation centers in the country's three public higher education institutions (University of Indonesia, Bogor Agriculture University (IPB University), and Politeknik Elektronika Negeri Surabaya (State Electronic Polytechnic of Surabaya) (PENS)) and an entrepreneurship training model facilitated by a Swiss-Indonesian start-up accelerator program (Asia Entrepreneurship Training Program (AETP)) are explored in this publication. Lessons and good practices are drawn from these entrepreneurship development models and incubation centers designed specifically for Indonesian youth. Recommendations focus on strengthening similar programs in other universities, such as management and resources, financial sustainability, mentorship and training, business services and facilities, graduation and post-incubation, and documentation and evaluation.

Edited excerpt from publisher's website. Show less

Entrepreneurship offers important opportunities to help young people pursue resilient, successful, and meaningful livelihoods. It enables them to live their lives with dignity and contribute to local economies. Through force or by choice, there are record numbers of youth on the move. Among them are refugees and other migrants, including the internally displaced and stateless. They may be vulnerable or marginalised in their host country. This study sets out to understand how we can help these youth succeed through entrepreneurship. It sheds light on some of the key challenges facing youth on the move when starting or growing a business and identifies models and approaches which can help them. We share good practice and learning, while recognising the complexities of supporting such a wide range of youth. The study draws on global literature, a survey and interviews with Youth Business International (YBI) members, and interviews and informal conversations with entrepreneurship experts outside of YBI. This report is aimed at entrepreneurship support organisations and other interested stakeholders.

Edited excerpt from publication. Show less

In 2017, the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund (YEF), which explores entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic self-determination and wealth-building for opportunity youth. Del Norte County and Tribal Lands, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Francisco, California received YEF grants. All three communities seek to promote racial and economic equity by seeking to ensure that youth who are experiencing the most significant barriers to reconnection - youth of color, Native American youth, and rural youth, as well as youth who are low income and reside in public housing - are provided with a full range of opportunities to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and skills that can help them thrive in today's economy, as well as access to tools and resources needed by aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Aspen Forum partnered with the Aspen Institute's Business Ownership Initiative to co-lead a community of practice among the YEF grantees and document the learnings from this work. This case study explores the local context and history of the opportunity youth efforts and how entrepreneurship fits into the larger body of community-building work in Del Norte. The local collaborative has developed a shared vision to improve community health and a focus on locally led economic development that responds to community workforce needs, engaged young leaders and community organizers to identify and solve local challenges, and implemented the use of human-centered design principles as a strategy to bring community together around solving challenges and envisioning a better Del Norte.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website. Show less

This report seeks to contribute to the understanding of how youth social entrepreneurship can both support youth development and help accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Towards this end, the report first synthesizes the current discussion on social entrepreneurship and anchors it in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Chapter 2 examines the situation of young people and whether youth social entrepreneurship can offer employment opportunities and support youth participation and other elements of youth development. In the third chapter, the report assesses the potential of youth social entrepreneurship as a source of support for the 2030 Agenda and youth development in its broadest sense - and examines relevant challenges within this context. Chapter 4 explores how new technologies can be leveraged to address some of the challenges faced by young social entrepreneurs and to further support youth social entrepreneurship in its efforts to advance sustainable development. The final chapter offers policy guidance to facilitate the development of enabling, responsive and sustainable national ecosystems for young social entrepreneurs.

Throughout the report, information boxes and case studies illustrate the impact youth social entrepreneurship can have when entrepreneurship ecosystems are responsive to the needs, characteristics, constraints and ambitions of young people.

Edited excerpt from executive summary. Show less

Youth Business International (YBI) partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank's innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, to design and deliver a regional Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP). The programme worked over six years (2013-2019) to address the challenge of high youth unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean by expanding and strengthening entrepreneurship support services for vulnerable youth. Through YEP, 64,000 youth were trained with entrepreneurship skills in partnership with YBI member organizations in ten countries. Close to 20,000 businesses were started or strengthened, over 13,000 new jobs were created, and 86 per cent of the businesses supported under the project had increased sales one year after receiving support. All ten local entrepreneurship support organizations report increased capacity to provide quality entrepreneurship services that respond to the changing needs of youth in today's digital economy. This report shares the impact of the program.

Published abstract. Show less