Abstract
Entrepreneurship often runs in families. A substantial body of research shows that children of entrepreneurial parents are more likely to follow similar career paths (Andersson & Koster, 2011; Blumberg & Pfann, 2016; Chlosta et al., 2012; Edelman et al., 2016; Vladasel et al., 2021). While previous research has largely explained this trend in terms of role modeling and resource mobilization (Lindquist et al., 2015; Sorensen, 2007), our understanding of this relationship remains limited. Existing studies have often treated families and their offspring homogeneously, overlooking potential variations in family types and offspring behavior that may reveal additional influential dynamics. This oversight limits insight into how different family structures (and dynamics) and individual behaviors among siblings influence entrepreneurial outcomes (e.g., new venture creation), which may account in part for the limited theoretical development in this area. Another possible explanation for the slow development and limited understanding of intergenerational entrepreneurship is the unexplored role of the external environment. In particular, our understanding of how exogenous institutional shocks or policy changes affect children's entrepreneurship is rather limited (Zunino, 2022). By integrating these external factors into our study of intergenerational entrepreneurship, we can introduce new alternative theoretical perspectives that can challenge and enrich our current understanding of intergenerational entrepreneurship. This symposium aims to address these underexplored areas in intergenerational entrepreneurship to provide broader theoretical perspectives and views on the factors that influence family-driven entrepreneurship in a changing global landscape. Specifically, we will discuss and explore: 1. How does heterogeneity among children, such as gender and differences between biological children and step-children matter for parental influence on entrepreneurial outcomes? 2. How does parental heterogeneity, such as parental divorce or remarriage, affect children's entrepreneurial outcomes? 3. To what extent does temporal exposure to parental entrepreneurship, which may also be influenced by parental divorce and remarriage, affect children's entrepreneurship and what are the underlying mechanisms? 4. To what extent can institutional disturbances or policy changes strengthen or weaken the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship?