Ageing and redundancy and the silver lining of entrepreneurship

Abstract

<jats:p> The article reports a qualitative study of individuals aged 50+ who have been made redundant and subsequently started a firm or become self-employed. There is some literature on both entrepreneurship post-redundancy and amongst older people, but the intersection of these is little explored. In this article, the drivers and experiences of the redundant older entrepreneurs are explored and in particularly, they are viewed through the lens of Shapero and Sokol’s entrepreneurial event theory (1982). Findings include that entrepreneurship was triggered by redundancy, but though entirely reactionary, the outcomes are perceived as positive and contributory to lives, rendering the redundancy a blessing in disguise and the entrepreneurship a silver lining. The value of the article is in its exploration of a specific context of entrepreneurship, where age and redundancy are implicated not only as drivers but also as shapers of ongoing entrepreneurship. Implications for theory include that entrepreneurship occurs as a reflexive process, including both agential and structural considerations, and this explains contextualized entrepreneurship better than conceptualizations of the normative ‘entrepreneur’. Implications for policy include better understanding of the drivers and ongoing motivations of older (redundant) entrepreneurs will better inform, support and development of them and their enterprises. </jats:p>

Self-Employment in Later Life: How Future Time Perspective and Social Support Influence Self-Employment Interest

“…Older workers will become an ever-increasing segment of the workforce in developed countries with many older workers expected to work beyond ‘normal’ retirement age (Maritz, 2015; Kautonen et al, 2017; Stirzaker and Galloway, 2017). Consequently, workforce aging has become a policy focus driven by the efforts to delay retirement and dependency on government resources.…”

“…The literature identifies several personal and background factors which may well differentiate older people becoming first time entrepreneurs from younger cohorts, such as extended time for skill development (Davidsson and Honig, 2003; Ahmad et al, 2012), work and life experience, maturity, and wisdom (Botham and Graves, 2009; Gordon and Jordan, 2017), favorable financial status (Kibler et al, 2012; Stirzaker and Galloway, 2017), expansive career and social networks (Davidsson and Honig, 2003; Ahmad et al, 2012) and age-related health concerns (Curran and Blackburn, 2001; Radford et al, 2015). Additionally, with increasing age comes the challenge of diminishing available time, complex social roles (i.e., caring responsibilities) and navigating the influence of age-related stereotypes and prejudices (Kautonen et al, 2011; Kibler et al, 2012).…”

Business, Aging, and Socioemotional Selectivity: A Qualitative Study of Gray Entrepreneurship

“…For example, Kautonen, Tornikoski, and Kibler () used the Theory of Planned Behavior to investigate the impact of perceived age norms on the formation of older‐age entrepreneurial intentions and found that if an older individual perceives it as socially desirable to be entrepreneurially active, this perception positively influences their entrepreneurial intention. Elsewhere, Stirzaker and Galloway () applied Shapero's Entrepreneurial Event Theory to motivations behind gray entrepreneurship, finding that significant birthdays and other older age‐related circumstances have an effect on decisions to become an entrepreneur. Similarly, combining perspectives from labor economics and entrepreneurship, Weber and Schaper () found older individuals have specific non‐typical motivations to engage in entrepreneurship, such as prioritizing free time, family, hobbies, and interests.…”

The older entrepreneurial self: intersecting identities of older women entrepreneurs

“…The study echos calls throughout the most recent literature to move away from the agency agenda and pursue lines of enquiry that examine entrepreneurship as a process in contexts that are underpinned by both agency and external factors (Anderson, 2015;Berglund, 2007;Stirzaker and Galloway, 2017).…”