Browsing by Subject "Entrepreneurship"

This thesis focuses on the investigation of adverse selection and moral hazard in the Finnish entrepreneurial insurance system. The thesis builds upon previous research on moral hazard and adverse selection in insurance markets, but focuses specifically on the social insurance market for entrepreneurs within sickness and parental allowances. This topic is of interest as mandating social insurance for entrepreneurs is vital, but often lacking due to the flexible nature of entrepreneurial activity. As a result, the social insurance systems may be subject to adverse selection and moral hazard. Rich panel data on insurance contributions of entrepreneurs in Finland allows me to measure the extent of asymmetric information both overall and dynamically. To test the former, I use a positive correlation test. In particular, the test looks at the probability of sickness or having a child in relation to insurance contributions. The results indicate a slight positive correlation between sickness risk and insurance contributions as well as the probability of having a child and insurance contributions. A more significant result is found for the risk of having children in a dynamic sense, showing a strong indication of a rise in insurance contributions around the time of receiving parental allowance. However, the results are more ambiguous in the case of sick pay. These results are robust to several controls as well as two separate identification strategies. Due to the endogeneity of illness or choosing to have children, causal conclusions cannot be drawn from the results.

This thesis is about the sociocultural phenomenon of start-up entrepreneurship. Contemporary society is home to a growing obsession towards entrepreneurship, with entrepreneurial action regarded as a possible solution to a wide spectrum of social problems. Entrepreneurial action and the acquiring of an entrepreneurial way of thinking and operating is widely considered to contribute to the common good, in reality having potential for a positive impact on society. Hence entrepreneurship is promoted in social policy and education in an effort to educate citizens towards entrepreneurial agency. All in all, an interesting shift is happening with entrepreneurs positioning themselves as producers of the common good ”making the world a better place one pizza at a time”, while farmers traditionally identifying as ”producers” are becoming more ”entrepreneurial”. Entrepreneurial agency as a new form of agency suitable for any individual in almost any field of action originates from the neoliberal discourse and the emphasis on individual freedom and entrepreneurialism. Like Margaret Thatcher famously stated, ”there is no society, there are individual men and women”. This highly individualistic approach to the reorganisation of society and the reinforcement or restoration of the class dominance of a small global elite was voiced as an alleged antidote to the perils of socialism, and culturally connected to the positive ideals of the entrepreneur as a free, self-reliable, innovative and efficient individual. This was the neoliberal re-invention of the entrepreneur that transformed the idea of the entrepreneur as primarily a business operator to that of the morally worthy individual simply doing the right thing. The fruits of the labour would then trickle-down as collectively beneficiary. This thesis is an ethnographic study on start-up entrepreneurs in the Greater Helsinki start-up ecosystem working to promote their companies. Through interviews and observational data, this thesis studies the start-up entrepreneur as the epitome of this contemporary entrepreneurial agency. Start-up entrepreneurship sometimes referred to as ”entrepreneurialism on steroids”, is a form of often tech-related entrepreneurialism aimed at fast growth with the help of investments - a sort of ”rags to riches” narrative. But the work is demanding with statistically most start-up companies destined to fail, with a very small percentage becoming successful in finding markets, growing and returning the investments while providing lucrative ”exits” for the founders. Utilising positioning theory this thesis focuses on three themes related to start-up entrepreneurs: their identifications and boundary work in separating them as a specific social group, the outspoken motivations behind their actions and the troubles that arise from their endeavours. Through dress code, speech norms and the acceptance of the Weberian idea of the entrepreneur as ”a special actor” and capable problem-solver, the identity of the start-up entrepreneur is constructed and ritualistically verified in events like SLUSH. The origins of the neoliberal discourse are interestingly present in these motivations, with a majority of the interviewees emphasizing the altruistic side of their social entrepreneurialism and the importance of freedom in life. They are free to achieve. But on the other hand, the possibility of unimaginable financial gain brings certain ambiguity to the situation. In the words of one interviewee: ”Anyone who says they don´t dream of getting rich in a start-up company is lying.” Finally, among all the positive hype that surrounds successful start-up companies and entrepreneurship partly due to the way they are portrayed in the media, there are problems ahead for many. Stress and financial troubles combined with the shame and possible debt resulting from going bankrupt manifest themselves as severe physical symptoms, mental health problems, insomnia and burnout. This can in turn have a dramatic impact in dictating the lives of the start-up entrepreneurs. Following the ideas of critical entrepreneurship studies and contributing to the lack of research on the topic, this thesis suggests that due to the influence of the neoliberal discourse on the way entrepreneurship is framed and celebrated as well as the severity of the resulting problems for many, there should be a more critical and analytical approach to the seemingly value-free promotion of entrepreneurship. It is necessary to ask whose interests are actually getting promoted through increased entrepreneurial agency, and whether the alleged promotion of common good is in fact contributing to any issues other than the convenience of the every-day lives of the middle-class.

The world is currently experiencing a notable shift in the pattern of migration. Immigrant receiving countries in different parts of the world have promoted integration policies to minimise the inequality. My purpose of this paper is to learn how immigrant entrepreneurship contributes to self-employment by the use of ethnicity and transnational connection. This text examines the role of ethnicity in the development and sustenance of the Nepalese entrepreneurship in the context of Finland, drawing from the first-hand data. I have found that the involvement of ethnic resources, co-ethnic employment, and transnational connection lead to a profitable return for the Nepalese ethnic entrepreneurship. Instead of conceptualising a general economic model of entrepreneurship, I argue that it should be understood holistically how these immigrant entrepreneurs construct such opportunities by depending on ethnicity and co-ethnic relationship. I conduct this study with a great interest in the context of Finland, with an effort to understand the function of the Nepalese caste system as it is one of the essential features of this entrepreneurship model. I combined certain statistical information from various Finnish and Nepalese official sources to illustrate my arguments. The study shows how the Nepalese immigrant/ethnic entrepreneurs and soon-to-be entrepreneurs’ tactics to seek opportunities attempts to encounter mainstream labour market exclusion.