An exploratory study on entrepreneurial infrastructure and well-being of entrepreneurs

Abstract

Economic importance of infrastructure in a society cannot be overemphasised, especially for entrepreneurial activities. Also, the well-being of individuals  in a society, including entrepreneurs, is paramount, as they do interact with entrepreneurial infrastructure (EI) on daily basis. However, there is a dearth of  information on the relationship between EI and entrepreneurs’ well-being (EW) in the extant literature. Therefore, this study intends to fill this gap.  Systematic review of literature on key subject areas, like infrastructure, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial infrastructure, wellbeing and entrepreneurial  well-being, were used to explore the link between EI and EW. The study found that there was no consensus on the explicit meaning of EI. To resolve this,  the components of EI were identified and grouped by scope, to be either exogenous (public goods and services: such as road and electricity) or  endogenous (in-house facilities and services: such as building, education and training). The study assumed that entrepreneurs should be able to manage  the EI components, which are endogenous to them. Thus, a conceptual definition for EW in relation to exogenous basic infrastructure was developed.  Also, a guide on how to determine the conceptualised well-being of entrepreneurs with respect to the EI was provided. The findings of this study suggest  that entrepreneurs’ well-being in relation to exogenous basic entrepreneurial infrastructure could be determined subjectively and objectively by using  indicators of Hedonic Well-being of Entrepreneur (HWBE) and Eudaimonic Well-being of Entrepreneur (EWBE) respectively. Therefore, these indicators are  recommended to be used holistically for assessment of the subject matter in the future studies, especially those involve empirical investigations