Abstract:

Dominant theories of entrepreneurial entry frame venture creation as a discretionary choice optimised for expected financial returns, opportunity costs (OC), and downside risk. This paper challenges that assumption by introducing Bucket List Entrepreneurship (BLE) as a theoretically distinct decision regime applicable to individuals who harbour long-standing entrepreneurial aspirations while maintaining a valued economic alternative to entry in which entrepreneurial entry becomes conditionally inevitable once key economic deterrents relax. Drawing on regret theory and role identity theory, we argue that when OC approaches zero the locus of decision-making shifts from whether to enter entrepreneurship to when to enter, making the psychological cost of inaction (PCI) — specifically anticipated regret and identity incompletion — the dominant motivational force. We treat these as theoretically and empirically separable mechanisms rather than a single composite, enabling us to probe the unique contribution of each. Using a two-wave longitudinal survey design (N = 239; Wave 1, to N = 231 Wave 2 interval of six months), we test three hypotheses distinguishing BLE from conventional entry logics. In place of a null-hypothesis formulation for H3, we adopt a relative effect size claim: we predict and confirm that PCI predicts entry more strongly than expected financial returns, assessed via standardised coefficient comparison and bootstrapped confidence intervals. The multi-country sampling frame, spanning ten countries across diverse institutional contexts, is acknowledged as a convenience-driven feature of the study design rather than a theoretically motivated test of cultural generalisation; cultural moderation of BLE dynamics is identified as a substantive direction for future research. The study extends management theories of career transitions, occupational identity, and organisational entry by foregrounding inaction as a central source of perceived loss and by reconceptualising OC as a timing constraint whose influence varies systematically across life stages.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Theories;Indigenous entrepreneurship

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Dr. Ram Subramaniam