Title: Regional variation in subcultural attitudes to entrepreneurship in India

Authors: Dave Valliere

Addresses: Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto ON M5B 2K3, Canada

Abstract: This article reports on an exploration of Indian cultural attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and the degree to which these vary among different regions. It uses Q-methodology in which 139 respondents in Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai were asked to rank 42 statements about entrepreneurship beliefs and attitudes. This data was factor analysed to discover six distinct regional viewpoints which were grouped by cluster analysis into two subcultural perspectives. These subcultures differ widely from the broad measures of Indian national culture usually cited in the entrepreneurship literature. The effects of these differences on the social environment and subjective norms of individuals who are considering entrepreneurship are highlighted. The existence of distinct regional entrepreneurial cultures has important implications for entrepreneurship theorists and national policy-makers.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; culture; subjective norms; institutional logics; Q methodology; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2017.084087

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2017 Vol.31 No.2, pp.180 - 203

Received: 16 Sep 2015
Accepted: 24 Dec 2015
Published online: 10 May 2017 *

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