Entrepreneurs in a Transitional Society

• Published in: International journal of sociology Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 54 - 74
• Main Authors: Titma, Mikk, Soidla, Indrek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-07-2007
• Subjects: Educational Attainment; Entrepreneurship; Postcommunist Societies; Sex
• ISSN: 0020-7659
• DOI: 10.2753/IJS0020-7659370203

This article investigates the process of the emergence of the entrepreneurial class in post-Soviet countries, using longitudinal data from the Paths of a Generation project that began in 1983 & has had four follow-up waves in 1988, 1993, 1998 & 2004. The interviewed age cohort graduated from secondary schools in the early 1980s, entered the labor market in the Soviet Union, & was most advantaged in the emerging transitional society. Now in their early forties, the members of this cohort are disproportionately overrepresented in the entrepreneurial class. Human agency had an effect on who succeeded & survived the open, tough competition in the emergence of the entrepreneurial class. The study includes an analysis of predictors of entrance into the entrepreneurial stratum during transition & entrepreneurial status in 2004 in Estonia; among these predictors are gender, education, personal traits in adolescence, & actions. The study reveals that gender & education have been the strongest predictors information of the entrepreneurial class throughout the transition. While the influence of adolescent traits is still observable twenty years after their measurement in a totally different society, the character of the influence has undergone changes during transition. The analyses show the influence of several actions that predict success in entrepreneurship. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.