Novice creators: Personal identity and push pull dynamics

Giacomin, Olivier [UCL] Guyot, Jean-Luc [UCL] Janssen, Frank [UCL] Lohest, Olivier [UCL]

Our goal is to examine whether individuals’ (re)orientation towards entrepreneurship can be interpreted in terms of push-pull dynamics. We describe these dynamics and clarify the interaction between them and individual characteristics of entrepreneurs. We apply a principal component analysis on the results of a socio-economic survey to identify the differences between push and pull dynamics. We show that individuals who engage in entrepreneurial activities encountered disruptive situations or opportunities. These individuals can therefore be defined in terms of the push or pull dynamics they are affected by with various degrees of intensity. We also demonstrate that the disruptive situations and opportunities leading to entrepreneurial activities are of very different nature, and, consequently, that the push and pull dynamics can take a variety of forms. Finally, the results of our regression analysis highlight the influence of entrepreneurs’ social position and biographical past on their positioning in terms of push-pull dynamics.