Achieving aging well through senior entrepreneurship: a three-country empirical study

Plain English Summary The implication of this study is that senior entrepreneurs bring complex web of intrinsic motivations for their entrepreneurial acts with the impact on their well-being and produce societal benefits. The cultural dimensions also play a significant role in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Seniors strive to achieve aging well by engaging in entrepreneurial activities subsequent to ceasing their organizational employment. While this is a common practice in many societies, scant research exists on what motivates seniors to engage in entrepreneurial activities once they end their formal employment. We adopt the self-determination theory (SDT) to investigate the effects of goal contents and motives on the well-being among seniors who launch their entrepreneurship journeys. Based on in-depth interviews with senior entrepreneurs in China, India, and Turkey, we contribute to extant knowledge by linking separate paradigms. These are as follows: goal contents and intrinsic motivation-driven entrepreneurship, management of inner and outer challenges, and achievement of the eventual outcome of aging well. We also investigate the culture-specific drivers of senior entrepreneurship in a comparative framework.

Automated summary

This study examines the motivations of senior entrepreneurs engaging in entrepreneurial activities after retirement and their impact on well-being, highlighting the significant role of cultural factors in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.