The Stigma of Failure and Limited Opportunities for Ex-failed Entrepreneurs’ Redemption in Japan

Abstract

Various economic activities ranging from individual-level consumption to global corporation’s mergers and acquisitions are subject to cultural force (DiMaggio, 1994). Culture refers to “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another … [and] includes systems of values” (Hofstede, 1980: 25). It shapes values and norms as to what is appropriate and desirable, powerfully controlling and shaping human behaviour. There is no doubt that entrepreneurship is one type of economic activity that is subject to cultural force. Culture exerts significant influence on the extent to which one is willing to take risk for pursuing identified business opportunities, the extent to which the pursuit of emerging opportunities is socially accepted, legitimated behaviour, and the extent to which external constituents support entrepreneurs through the provision of critical resources (Keupp and Gassmann, 2009; McGrath, MacMillan, Yang, and Tsai, 1992; Mueller and Thomas, 2000). It is reasonable, therefore, to consider cultural difference in attempting to explain cross-national variations in the level of entrepreneurial behaviour (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 1999).