Browsing by Author "Zawwar, Imran"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Do freelance independent contractors promote entrepreneurship?
    (Springer, 2019-09-03) Burke, Andrew; Zawwar, Imran; Hussels, Stephanie
    We investigate whether or not the level of entrepreneurial activity in an economy is determined by the availability of freelance independent contractors in the workforce. We develop hypotheses and test them through an analysis of 75 countries from 2002 to 2012 using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database. We find freelance independent contractors promote entrepreneurial activity where typically a 10% rise in the freelance workforce causes about a 1% increase in entrepreneurial activity. The significance of this positive effect is robust for both necessity and opportunity-driven entrepreneurial types and across innovation-driven and efficiency-driven economies—but it is stronger in innovation-driven economies and also for necessity entrepreneurship. It implies that having a flexible workforce is a key ingredient to having an entrepreneurial economy. Furthermore, it indicates that orthodox research and public policy perspectives which overlook the importance of freelance independent contractors for entrepreneurship activity require a re-appraisal.
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    Market entry for wind energy: strategic approaches for the original equipment manufacturer
    (Wiley, 2021-10-13) Zwarteveen, Jan Willem; Zawwar, Imran; Angus, Andrew
    Wind energy is a valuable resource, but many developing and emerging economies(DEEs) are not utilizing the tremendous wind capacity available to them. This meansthere is a potential for wind turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) topenetrate new markets to increase profits, and to contribute to Sustainable Develop-ment Goals. This article explores the potential triggers for wind energy diffusion andprovides the basis for inclusive market entry strategies for wind power OEMs. Indica-tions are that early wind energy path creation is driven by climate adaptation, vestedinterests in fossil fuels and hydropower, and the business case potential. A negativebusiness case potential in many DEEs formed a substantial barrier. A shift toincreased local value creation, collaboration with traditional power producers, andpromoting wind for climate adaptation are key novel inclusive market entry strategiesto open and develop new markets.
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    The role of entrepreneurial activity in economic catch-up.
    (2017-12) Zawwar, Imran; Burke, Andrew; Belghitar, Yacine; Hussels, Stephanie
    According to an estimate, in the year 1820, the difference in per capita income between the richest and the poorest country was no more than 3:1. However, with the industrial revolution, some countries experienced a significant shift in their economic growth and the gap in per capita income between the countries started to widen up. This process resulted in increasing global inequality as some countries progressed rapidly, while others remained behind and could not catch-up with the developed world. Nevertheless, with the increase in productivity given the rapid advances in technology, the developing countries have started to catch-up and most of them are growing faster than their developed counterparts. The process of catching up by the individual countries implies a reduction in the gap in productivity and per capita income with the developed world and collectively if all the countries start to catch-up it is referred to as convergence. The phenomenon of convergence has received much attention in the literature on economic development and the potential causes of convergence have intrigued several debates. The neoclassical growth theory provides the theoretical construct to explain this process of convergence and the role of capital, labour and technology is argued to be fundamental. In this regard, the basic premise of this research is that although technology is an important determinant for economic convergence, it cannot be implemented without the entrepreneurs in the economy. The role of entrepreneurial activity is considered to be significant in economic growth, but it has not been explored in the models of economic convergence. Utilising the GEM data on total entrepreneurial activity this PhD thesis addresses this gap and building on the economic development and entrepreneurial literature it explores the role of entrepreneurial activity in economic convergence under varying business contexts. More importantly, it tries to ascertain what type of entrepreneurial activity assists the catching up countries to progress and reduce their gap in productivity and income with the developed world. As the first step in this research, a systematic review of the literature was conducted resulting in a theoretical framework which uncovered the gaps in the existing knowledge. This informed the respective research questions and provided the design for the empirical research that followed. The first empirical paper showed that the impact of entrepreneurial activity in catching up economies, is only significant in the presence of a feedback loop, i.e. as improved entrepreneurial activity from one year feeds into another, helping the catching up countries to grow faster and reduce the gap in productivity and income with the higher incumbent economies. The second empirical paper showed that in the presence of a feedback loop it is only the opportunity entrepreneurial activity that has a significant impact in reducing the GDP gap, while necessity entrepreneurial activity is insignificant. In a world which is characterised by resource constraints, the biggest public policy issue is effective utilisation of resources. To this end, this research has great insights for public policymakers who are interested in formulating policies for impactful entrepreneurship which can expedite the process of economic development. It shows the importance of entrepreneurial activity in economic catch-up, provides insights into entrepreneurial motivation and at the same time emphasise the value of a feedback loop.
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    Wind energy diffusion in developing countries
    (Cranfield University, 2022-04) Zwarteveen, Jan Willem; Angus, Andrew; Zawwar, Imran
    Wind energy is valuable, but many developing and emerging economies (DEEs) do not utilize their substantial wind potential. The objective of this research is to understand wind energy diffusion with the aim to promote wind energy in underdeveloped areas for sustainable benefits of both country and wind industry. The literature review and meta-analysis identified 259 factors that influenced wind energy diffusion. A novel conceptual framework that describes wind energy diffusion was developed, dissecting factors that influence wind diffusion into factors related to the desire for wind energy, factors related to the mechanism of change and disturbing factors. Regarding DEEs, the meta-analysis showed indications of the importance of economic factors and, opposing expectations, environmental factors appear not to drive wind energy growth. Based on path creation theories but using binary logistic regression as a novel quantitative approach, the empirical study explored the factors influencing early wind energy diffusion. Key indicated drivers appeared to be climate adaptation, vested interests (fossil fuels and hydropower), and the business case potential. Regarding DEEs, a negative business case potential formed a key barrier. Novel market entry strategies for the wind power Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) are to collaborate with vested power producers rather than compete and promote wind for climate adaptation instead of climate change mitigation. Most high wind potential countries have installed less than 500 MW of wind power capacity (commercialization threshold). The remaining countries have on average 20596 MW of wind capacity installed per country. The lagging wind adopting countries were assessed on their probability to adopt commercial wind in the near future, by using a novel quantitative path creation forecasting method. Passive entry, passive waiting, active entry and active waiting were defined as suggested market entry and development strategies for the wind OEM.