RAHMAN Muzna
thesis subject :
Cultural and Economic perspectives of Business Angels.
Thesis start date :
octobre 2021
Name of thesis supervisor(s) :
Joanne HAMET
Thesis abstract :
The purpose of this doctoral study is to determine the impact of culture and economic factors on business angel activities in developing countries around the globe. Business angels are high net worth individuals who invest in small unlisted companies, with no family connection, assuming typically a minority equity stake as well as an active involvement in the business (Cumming & Zhang, 2016; Harrison, 2017; Mason, 2006). in the recent years that business angels are emerging as major funding sources for SMEs and other small business in developing countries (Boulton, Shohf & Zhu, 2019; Harrison, 2017). In these economies business angels are contributing significantly to new seed businesses, jobs creation and technology development (Bonini et al., 2017; Vismara 2016a, 2016b). Earlier studies on business angels have been mostly carried out in developed countries (Dutta & Folta, 2016; EBAN, 2015; Harrison, Scheela, Lai & Vivekarajah, 2018) and there is dearth of research in developing countries in this regard. Little or no attention is given to some other important aspects like culture and economic conditions and the way these factors could affect angel investment activities in developing countries (Edelman et al., 2017; Harrison, 2017). This study is expected to bridge this literature gap by focusing on cultural and economic aspects of business angel activities in developing countries. Different cultures affect business angels’ investment activities differently. For example, culture affects level and radius of trust which in turn affects angel investment (Ding et al., 2015). According to Lerner et al., (2015), angels only waste their resources in countries having unsupportive culture for startup investments. This study is expected to advance the existing knowledge on business angel investment activities in developing countries by revealing cultural and economic differences as major predictors of business angel’s activities.
