The Effect of Cognition, Institutions, and Long Term Orientation on Entrepreneurial Ethical Behavior: China vs. U.S.

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical framework to examine if entrepreneurs think and behave differently at various phases of a venture, namely opportunity exploration and exploitation stages. It is also proposed that there is a difference between entrepreneurs in China and in the U.S. due to institutional voids. Furthermore, we argue that the difference increases across the two stages of the entrepreneurial process. Specifically, at the exploration stage, entrepreneurs in China and the U.S. behave similarly when ethics is concerned. However, entrepreneurial unethical behaviors seem to be more rampant at the exploitation stage in China compared with that in the U.S. Lastly, we provide future research directions to build a stream of research.

Keywords

entrepreneurs / opportunity exploration / opportunity exploitation / unethical behavior

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Brill