Otrachshenko Vladimir, Popova Olga, Nikolova Milena, Tyurina Elena
Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany.
Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS), Regensburg, Germany.
Technol Soc. 2022 Nov;71:102093. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2022.102093. Epub 2022 Aug 22.
We theoretically and empirically examine how acquiring new skills and increased financial worries influenced entrepreneurship entry and exit intentions during the pandemic. To that end, we analyze primary individual-level survey data we collected in the aftermath of the COVID-19's first wave in Russia, which has had one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates globally. Our results show that acquiring new skills during the pandemic helped owners keep their existing businesses and encouraged start-ups in sectors other than information technology (IT). For IT start-ups, having previous experience matters more than new skills. While the pandemic-driven financial worries are associated with business closure intentions, they also inspire new business start-ups, highlighting the pandemic's creative destruction power. Furthermore, preferences for formal employment and remote work also matter for entrepreneurial intentions. Our findings enhance the understanding of entrepreneurship formation and closure in a time of adversity and suggest that implementing entrepreneurship training and upskilling policies during recurring waves of the COVID-19 pandemic can be an important policy tool for innovative small business development.
我们从理论和实证两方面研究了在疫情期间获得新技能和日益增加的财务担忧如何影响创业进入和退出意愿。为此，我们分析了在俄罗斯新冠疫情第一波高峰过后收集的个人层面的原始调查数据，俄罗斯是全球新冠感染率最高的国家之一。我们的研究结果表明，在疫情期间获得新技能有助于企业主维持现有业务，并鼓励在信息技术（IT）以外的领域创业。对于IT初创企业来说，以往的经验比新技能更重要。虽然疫情引发的财务担忧与企业关闭意愿相关，但它们也激发了新企业的创立，凸显了疫情的创造性破坏力量。此外，对正规就业和远程工作的偏好对创业意愿也很重要。我们的研究结果增进了对逆境时期创业形成和关闭的理解，并表明在新冠疫情反复来袭期间实施创业培训和提升技能政策可能是促进创新型小企业发展的一项重要政策工具。
