Title: Entrepreneurs' innovation benefitting from their education and training and from national policy and culture: a global study

Authors: Adam Schøtt Hovne; Ben Schøtt Hovne; Thomas Schøtt

Addresses: 644 Muench St. Harrisburg, PA 17102, USA ' 10 N. Livingston St. #502, Madison, WI 53703, USA ' Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark, 6000 Kolding, Denmark

Abstract: Abundant ideology and scarce evidence favour ideas about benefits for entrepreneurs' innovativeness from their formal education and entrepreneurial training during and upon schooling and also from policy supporting entrepreneurship and culture emphasising individualism. The ideas are tested using hierarchical linear mixed modelling on an approximately representative sample of 21,174 entrepreneurs in 38 countries surveyed in Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Entrepreneurs' innovativeness is found to benefit from education, especially from training during schooling and also from training upon graduation, controlling for other characteristics. Innovation is also promoted by public policy support for entrepreneurship. A culture emphasising entrepreneurial individualism moderates the benefit in the way that it amplifies the benefit of education for innovation.

Keywords: innovation; formal education; schooling; entrepreneurial training; culture; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; GEM; national policies; public policies; entrepreneurs; individualism; HLM; hierarchical linear modelling; mixed modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2014.065312

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2014 Vol.23 No.1/2, pp.127 - 144

Published online: 31 Oct 2014 *

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