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Research Summary: Gaucher, Friesen, and Kay (2011: "GFK" hereafter) found that women perceive jobs to be less appealing when job adverts use masculine wording—a result they attributed to women's lower evaluations of "belongingness." As masculine wording is used more often in male‐dominated jobs, GFK concluded that gendered wording in job adverts may deter women from entering such jobs. In light of growing general interest in joining new ventures ("start‐ups"), we replicate and extend GFK's study to compare start‐ups and established firms. Interestingly, we find that GFK's original findings are replicated in the context of start‐ups, but not in established firms. We propose and adduce evidence that the unique context of start‐ups may prime women to respond especially sensitively to gendered wording, via positive expectancy violation. Managerial Summary: This article builds on a previous study that found masculine wording in job adverts deters women from entering male‐dominated jobs. Our purpose is to try to replicate these findings using a more recent sample of data and distinguishing new ventures ("start‐ups") from established firms. Interestingly, we show that the prior finding is only replicated in the context of start‐ups and not established firms. Hence, women's responsiveness to gendered wording in job adverts appears to depend on the context. Implications are that incorporating feminine wording in job adverts is likely to be more effective in contexts where women anticipate greater challenges in becoming integrated into the workplace culture. Entrepreneurs' recruitment strategies designed to assemble a diverse workforce should therefore differ from those of established firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major internal barrier to new venture growth is employee effort that diminishes with expansion of the venture's workforce. This paper advances entrepreneurial growth theory by exploring conceptually how management measures that leverage three distinct employee motivations – extrinsic, intrinsic, and prosocial – affect this barrier. I argue that "agency measures" which leverage employees' extrinsic motivations likely lose their effectiveness as firms grow; in contrast, measures that leverage employees' prosocial motivations are better placed to overcome the internal growth barrier and spur ongoing new venture growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regions with spatial concentrations of businesses create conditions that spawn new firms, but also undercut new venture survival. Localized competition puts pressure on new firms to exit. Adding to this pressure to exit is regional path dependence, which limits the ability of firms to respond strategically to hostile local conditions. We investigate the extent to which the pressure to exit created by localized competition is moderated by three "path breaking" factors—new knowledge, industry diversity, and industry switching. We test and find broad support for our hypotheses using data from 355 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States spanning 2002 to 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]