Title: Exploring entrepreneurship policy in a Pacific context: the case of Tonga

Authors: Malama Solomona; Robert Davis

Addresses: Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, Unitec Institute of Technology, Private Bag 92025, Auckland, New Zealand. ' Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, Unitec Institute of Technology, Private Bag 92025, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract: In 2010, data was collected to explore entrepreneurship in a Pacific context. The preliminary conceptual model is based on the triangulation of findings from the national expert survey (NES) and adult population survey (APS) components of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). For the NES, 25 national experts were interviewed in order to understand the factors that constrain and promote entrepreneurial activity. The APS analysed the responses of 1,184 household members across Tonga regarding their actual experiences and perceptions of entrepreneurial activity. Our analysis uses grounded theory in tandem with this model because of the lack of tested theory regarding entrepreneurship in the Pacific. The NES data was initially used in the analysis, and the triangulated confirmatory findings from the APS were used once the emergent propositions had become clear. Seven new propositions are developed that extend our existing conceptualisation of entrepreneurship. The research implications and limitations are discussed.

Keywords: Tonga; entrepreneurship policy; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; GEM; Pacific region; entrepreneurial activity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2012.047112

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012 Vol.16 No.2, pp.131 - 146

Published online: 14 Aug 2014 *

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