Women entrepreneurs are more motivated by social impact than money
Entrepreneurial motivation is important to economic growth because entrepreneurs create companies that produce new products and services, which in turn, boost productivity. But we know little about what motivates innovative entrepreneurs and how their motivations differ by gender, culture and other characteristics. A new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Columbia Business School sheds a light on the attributes that drive different types of entrepreneurs. By examining how entrepreneurs responded to motivation-related messages that involve money and social impact, the researchers concluded that women and people in altruistic cultures are more motivated by messages of social impact than by those related to money while men and people in less altruistic cultures are more motivated by messages related to money. The study was recently published in Management Science.