Augmented vulnerability and entrepreneurship: evidence from Spain

• Autores: Alaitz Zabala Zarauz
• Directores de la Tesis: Iñaki Peña Legazkue (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universidad de Deusto ( España ) en 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Número de páginas: 253
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Ana María Bojica Bojica (presid.), Henar Alcalde Heras (secret.), Nuria Calvo (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Competitividad Empresarial y Territorial, Innovación y Sostenibilidad por la Universidad de Deusto; la Universidad Pontificia Comillas y la Universidad Ramón Llull
• Calificación: Sobresaliente
• Materias:
  • Ciencias económicas
    • Organización y dirección de empresas
  • Sociología
    • Grupos sociales
      • Estratificación social
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: DeustoTeka
• Resumen

  • This study investigates how ‘augmented vulnerability’ influences people's entrepreneurial trajectories during the most critical stages of their businesses, as well as the prioritization of their business objectives, including the analysis of entrepreneurial intention and the firm creation, growth, and sustainability of businesses. Based on the 2023 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database for Spain (Calvo et al., 2023), this research uses binomial logistic regression to analyze the experiences of key vulnerable groups, including women, seniors and immigrants, as well as those who belong to more than one of these categories at the same time (augmented vulnerability). The empirical findings underscore the profound significance of this intersectionality. The results not only confirm that vulnerability profoundly shapes entrepreneurial trajectories but, crucially, they reveal that belonging to multiple vulnerable groups introduces distinct and often amplified barriers, alongside previously unacknowledged enabling factors. This nuanced understanding is paramount, demonstrating the critical necessity for a more granular and sophisticated approach to policy design and entrepreneurial support. Generic interventions, while broadly beneficial, demonstrably fall short in addressing the specific, interconnected hurdles faced by these multi-vulnerable sub-segments.