Influence of intellectual property, foreign investment, and technological adoption on technology entrepreneurship

Using a multi-level modeling approach, the present study empirically examines how intellectual property rights, inflow of foreign direct investment and barriers to technological adoption affect the likelihood of individuals' entry into technology entrepreneurship in a sample of 20 emerging economies. The results suggest that regimes with strong intellectual property rights protection combined with high levels of foreign direct investment per capita decrease the likelihood of individuals' entry into technology entrepreneurship, whereas low barriers to technological adoption increase this likelihood. These findings contribute to understanding the influence that national institutions and foreign investment exercise on the entrepreneurial behavior of early-stage technology entrepreneurs in emerging economies, for which the extant literature shows mixed results.