We draw from theories of generations and imprinting to introduce an alternative conceptualization of the effects of age on entrepreneurship—namely, entrepreneurs' generational imprints. We theorize how imprinted characteristics of entrepreneurs from a conservative generation (vs. a progressive generation) are positively (negatively) associated with higher levels of financial returns and negatively (positively) associated with higher engagement in corporate social responsibility. In two studies in the Mexican context, we find that entrepreneurs from a conservative generation create more financial value than social value, while entrepreneurs from a progressive generation create more social value than financial value. We also explore the intervening mechanisms and find that entrepreneurs who are more embedded in the church and their families and have more family obligations are more likely to experience generational imprinting. We further show that women tend to experience generational imprinting differently than men, leading to important heterogeneity in our results. Finally, we find that older entrepreneurs experience generational imprints more acutely than their counterparts. Overall, this study provides new insights into entrepreneurs' generational imprints and demonstrates how and why generational imprinting matters in entrepreneurial research.

中文翻译：

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过去的回声：企业家的代际印记对价值创造模式的长期影响


我们从世代和印记理论中汲取灵感，引入了年龄对创业影响的另一种概念化，即企业家的代际印记。我们从理论上分析了保守一代（相对于进步一代）企业家的印记特征如何与更高水平的财务回报呈正（负）相关，与更高的企业社会责任参与度呈负（正）相关。在墨西哥背景下的两项研究中，我们发现保守一代的企业家创造的财务价值多于社会价值，而进步一代的企业家创造的社会价值多于财务价值。我们还探讨了干预机制，发现更深入教会及其家庭并承担更多家庭义务的企业家更有可能经历代际印记。我们进一步表明，女性往往与男性不同地经历代际印记，这导致了我们结果中的重要异质性。最后，我们发现，年长的企业家比他们的同行更能深刻地体验到代际印记。总体而言，本研究为企业家的代际印记提供了新的见解，并展示了代际印记在创业研究中如何以及为什么重要。