Entrepreneurs seem to be highly valuable for the firms in which they are involved. However, the knowledge of the role of accounting in a context of entrepreneurship is almost non-existent. Infact, literature in entrepreneurship says that the role of accounting is only about the past and therefore not of interest for entrepreneurs in exploiting opportunities. This paper reports the result of a qualitative study of five entrepreneurs and their involvement in the process of producing the annual report. The study aimed to describe and analyse if and how entrepreneurs are involved in producing accounting information when the annual report was prepared. If the entrepreneur was involved, the purpose was also to explain and the entrepreneurs involvement in the process. In purpose to find entrepreneurs the owner-managers of five small growing companies were asked to participate in semi-structured interviews during which their involvement to produce accounting where discussed. The respondents were also presented the adjustments, the final step in the recording process, and the annual report, in order to assess their involvement and to focus on how the entrepreneurs as producers of annual reports reflect and act in relation to other actors and to the process on the reporting. The study found that the entrepreneurs were certainly involved in producing certain accounting in the annual report. The analysis reveals that the reports were carefully fabricated and consciously managed by the entrepreneurs in the study.

Entrepreneurs seem to be highly valuable for the firms in which they are involved. However, the knowledge of the role of accounting in a context of entrepreneurship is limited. In fact, some literature on entrepreneurship indicates that the role of accounting is only about the past and therefore not of interest for entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial process.

This paper reports the results of one empirical study. The study aimed to explore how and why entrepreneurs in successful fast growing firms, i.e. Gazelle firms, participate in the year end procedures. In order to find entrepreneurs a survey was sent to a sample of 257 managers of Gazelle firms and to a control group of 227 managers in not growing firms. The responding rate was more than 50% from both groups. Entrepreneurs in Gazelle firms produce formal financial accounting information and the spent more time compared with managers in not growing firms in this process. Further, the results indicate that that there is a negative relationship between the size and the firm and participation in the year-end procedures.

Entrepreneurs seem to be highly valuable for the firms in which they are involved. However, the knowledge of the role of accounting in a context of entrepreneurship is limited. In fact, some literature on entrepreneurship indicates that the role of accounting is only about the past and therefore not of interest for entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial process.

This dissertation reports the results of two empirical studies. The first study is a qualitative pilot study of five entrepreneurs in fast growing firms and their participation in the year-end procedure. The respondents were presented the adjustments in the final step of the recording process and the annual report in order to assess their participation and to focus on how the entrepreneurs as producers of accounting reflect and act in relation to other actors and to the process of reporting. The pilot study found that the entrepreneurs were certainly involved in use and produce of certain accounting in the year-end procedures. The second study is based on the result from the pilot study and on agency theory the study aimed to describe and explain how and why entrepreneurs in successful fast growing firms, i.e. Gazelle firms, compared with a control group of managers in not growing firms, are participating in the year-end procedures. Also, the study aimed to analyse differences between entrepreneurs´ participation and other managers´ participation in this process. The study focused on the activities in the year-end procedures concerned with the values of R&D, stock and work-in-progress and accounts receivables. In order to find entrepreneurs the survey was sent to a sample of 257 managers of Gazelle firms and to a sample of 227 managers in not growing firms. Also, the annual report from the firms where the respondents where involved were collected. This data was also included in the study. The responding rate was 50% from both groups. The most notable finding is, in contradiction to literature on entrepreneurship, that entrepreneurs in Gazelle firms use and produce formal financial accounting information. Entrepreneurs in Gazelle firms spend more time and they are also involved in discussions with more actors compared with managers in not growing firms. Further, the results indicate that entrepreneurs in Gazelle firms will participate to a larger extent when the profitability in the firm decreases compared to managers in not growing firms. Finally, the dissertation gives insight in the role of formal financial accounting in the context of entrepreneurship, a research area we know little about.

Entrepreneurs seem to be highly valuable for the firms in which they are involved. However, the knowledge of the role of accounting in a context of entrepreneurship is almost non-existent.  Infact, literature in entrepreneurship says that the role of accounting is only about the past and therefore not of interest for the entrepreneur in exploiting opportunities. This paper reports the result of a qualitative study of five entrepreneurs and their involvement in the process of financial reporting. The study aimed to describe and analyse if and how entrepreneurs are involved in producing accounting information when the annual report were prepared. If the entrepreneurs were involved, the purpose was also to explain why the entrepreneurs were involved in the process. In purpose to find entrepreneurs the owner-managers of five small growing companies were asked to participate in semi-structured interviews during which their involvement to produce accounting where discussed. The respondents were also presented the adjustments, the final step in the recording process, and the annual report, in order to assess their involvement and to focus on how the entrepreneurs as producers of annual reports reflect and act in relation to other actors and to the process on the reporting.

The study found that the entrepreneurs were certainly involved in producing the annual report. The analysis reveals that the reports were carefully fabricated and consciously managed by the entrepreneurs in the study. The entrepreneurs where involved in the process when certain values of the assets were established and they wrote the directors annual report.

The study concludes that it appears to be important for entrepreneurs in small growing firms to discuss and produce accounting together with other actors, primarily the accountant, to improve their understanding and to identify how the audience of the annual reports may read and interpret the annual reports.

Entrepreneurs seem to be highly valuable for the firms in which they are involved. However, the knowledge of the role of accounting in a context of entrepreneurship is limited. In fact, some literature on entrepreneurship indicates that the role of accounting is only about the past and therefore not of interest for entrepreneurs in exploiting opportunities. In contrast, recent studies in accounting and the context of entrepreneurship reveal that entrepreneurs use and construct accounting information with diverse characteristics.

This paper reports the preliminary results of a survey and archival study. The study aimed to describe and explain how successful entrepreneurs and other managers are participating in the year-end procedures. Also, the study aimed to analyse differences between successful entrepreneurs´ participation and other manager’s participation in this process. The study focused on the activities in the year-end procedures concerned with the values of R&D, stock and work-in-progress and accounts receivables. In order to find successful entrepreneurs the survey was send to a sample of 257 managers of profitable, continuously growing companies. In order to find other managers, who not where successfully entrepreneurial, the survey was send to a sample of 227 managers in not growing companies. Also, the annual report from the companies where the respondents where involved in was collected. This data was also included in the study. The responding rate was about 50% from both groups. The most notable finding is, in contradiction to literature on entrepreneurship, that successful entrepreneurs use financial accounting information. Further, a preliminary result shows that successful entrepreneurs participate more than other managers in producing financial accounting. Ownership structure, degree of growth and individual motives related to stakeholders seems to be some factors that influence the degree of participation.

In order to stimulate growth economy, discussions about how to simplicity accounting regulation for SMEs have been highlighted during the past decades.

From previous research we know that the demand for accounting and advisory service vary with size. Also, the quality of advice from accountants plays an important role besides accounting service. However, some firms find accounting as a burden and in an entrepreneurial context external accounting seems not to be useful.

The question in this study is whether fast growing SMEs demand more external accounting service compared to stable firms. Fast growing firms in this study is defined as firms who just have doubled turnover during the last three years and at the end of this period have more than 10 employees and less than 250 employees. The empirical data is based of information from a survey answered by 131 managers of fast growing firms and 98 managers of stable firms Sweden. Also archival data from the annual report is included.

The findings give support to the hypothesis that fast growing SMEs demand more external accounting service when it comes to preparation of annual account and annual report. The result shows no differences between the two groups when demand of external book keeping service is analysed.

An integration of activities such as incubators, technology transfer, student and alumni organisations etc related to entrepreneurship education is seen as promoting economic development and innovativeness in many parts of the world. This way of creating systems for entrepreneurship development has also recently been focused in Sweden. As a result of Swedish Government's ambition to stimulate growth economy, university entrepreneurship education program spring up all over the country in order to promote students' entrepreneurship.From previous research we know that the infrastructure has an impact for entrepreneurship (Delatte & Baytos, 1993; Hannon, 2003; Rosa & Dawson, 2006, Xu, 2010). The structure relates to the number of individuals in the management structure and the role the individual has in the management structure such as member of the board or manager. It also refers to characteristics of the individuals involved in the management such as diversity, gender, age, education competence and previous experience (Rosa & Dawson, 2006). Further, it has been shown that managers are important since a lack of role models have been shown to have an impact for both female entrepreneurs and female managers in decisions of starting and/or managing a business (Crampton & Mishra, 1999; Mattis, 2004). However, public and private initiatives aimed to support business development usually are following a gender blind norm both in the way it is presented, for example regarding language and psychological accessibility, and considering the fields pointed out. Research shows that women don't feel themselves addressed by these initiatives or that it concerns them (NUTEK, 2001; NUTEK, R 2007:34).Swedish Government recently challenged to higher education institutions to apply for finance to a development towards world- class standard in educational programmes in entrepreneurship and innovation (Prop. 2008/2009:1/16). The invitation was directed to higher education institutions that already run advanced studies in entrepreneurship and innovation and that also have a strong connection to research in the same area. Swedish National Agency for Higher Education was commissioned by the Government to examine the applications and invited a panel of international academic experts to asses the applications. Eleven applications were submitted from higher education institutions in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation. Four of the eleven institutions which applied where recommended by the panel of experts and these institutions were further ranked and recommended by Swedish National Agency for Higher Education to the University Chancellor. Two of these institutions were finally selected to be financed by the Swedish Government.This paper focuses on these eleven applications and the review process. The aim of the paper is to analyze and illustrate in what way the applications as well as the review process is gendered for example in terms of discourse and symbols in relation to educational setting, organizational structure, infrastructure, education management, education team assigned and branches of industry (Acker, 1992; Bruni, Gherardi & Poggio, 2005; Gunnarsson, Westberg, Andersson & Balkmar, 2007). We expect to find how gender is mirrored in these highly ranked applications and what impact the presence or absence of a gender focus will have for entrepreneurship and innovation education.

Managers’ use of auditors in decision processes are well known in the accounting literature but little is known on managers in innovative firms and their acquisition of accounting knowledge through direct contacts with auditors. We conducted a multiple embedded study of exploratory character based on 19 interviews with managers and auditors connected to six innovative firms. We show that managers in innovative firms apply informal management control in early phases and thus also rely to a high extent on external auditors for such purposes. Management acquisition of accounting knowledge may however stepwise contribute to a more formalized control system as management competence increase. This study suggests that competence based view may be useful for understanding the role of accounting and auditors.

Managers’ use of auditors in decision processes is well known in the accounting literature, but little is known about owner-managers in innovative firms and their acquisition of accounting knowledge through direct contacts with external auditors. We conducted a multiple embedded study of exploratory character based on 21 interviews with owner-managers and external auditors connected to six innovative firms. We show that owner-managers in innovative firms apply informal management control in early phases of the innovation process and thus also rely heavily on external auditors for such purposes. However, management’s acquisition of accounting knowledge may contribute over time to the development of a more formalised control system as their competence increases. This study suggests that a competence-based view may be useful for understanding the role of accounting and external auditors in innovative firms’ management control systems. Copyright © 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

This study focuses on knowledge management and entrepreneurs’ perceptions in terms of knowledge sharing, the use of financial statement information and how these impact on their strategic business judgments and decision choices in innovative SME firms. Using a strategic decision making process model we test our assumptions regarding entrepreneurs´ knowledge routines implemented by non-Gazelle companies in strategic business decision. Combining survey data and financial data from a unique archival database we test our propositions on Swedish SMEs. The results of the structural equation analysis implied that non-Gazelle companies are propelled primarily by non-financial information captured by the expertise of managers and investors. Traditional financial information does not include entrepreneurs´ decision making however, the results indicate that entrepreneurs risk awareness is reported as a part of the frame why entrepreneurs´ make decisions.

Using a unique database and manually collected data we analyse and document accounting choices made by Swedish SMEs between 2005 and 2008. We find that given an option to report under Swedish GAAP or a translation of IFRS (SFASC/IFRS), only 5 firms out of 1,500 opted to do so. Further analysis of choices of picking individual standards of SFASC/IFRS shows no significant difference across Gazelles and Non-Gazelles. Among firms that select individual SFASC/IFRS standards most opt to use the percentage-of-completion method for long-term contracts. We also investigate differences in quality of financial reporting across Gazelles and Non-Gazelles and find that the financial reporting quality is consistently higher among Gazelles compared to Non-Gazelles. Test of cost of debt implications show that creditors find Gazelles’ financial reporting more useful to assess the credit risk resulting in lower cost of debt for this group of firms. Thus, SMEs seem to have little incentive to switch to SFASC/IFRS, which may be an indication of their attitude to future adoption of IFRS for SMEs as well. Furthermore, the results suggest that SMEs with an incentive to produce high quality financial reporting to raise capital, Gazelles, are able to do so using Swedish GAAP. These findings raise the question whether the IFRS for SMEs project is worthwhile.

We investigate improvements of the information environment and cost of debt implications. Capturing choices of accounting standards, auditor quality, and board size reflecting improvements of the information environment we find that the need of financing triggers an improvement, the most common actions are to switch to more qualified accountants and add board members. Improvements of the environment result in a reduction of cost of debt. Tests show that increasing audit quality decrease cost of debt. This is relevant to the discussion on accounting regulation for private firms among U.S. and European policy-makers showing that stakeholders do not demand valuation-oriented accounting.

Using a combination of survey data and unique archival databases we investigate the impact of managers´ participation in the year-end accounting process on the quality of financial reporting and cost of debt among Swedish privately owned Gazelles (rapidly growing firms) compared to Non-Gazelles. We find that managers of Gazelles are more prone to participate in the year-end accounting process compared to Non-Gazelles. Further, we find weak evidence that Gazelles produce higher quality financial reports (in terms of conservatism). Further, our results indicate that Gazelles experience lower cost of debt, though this is not statistically significant. We also find that private firms manage earnings to a greater extent the smaller they are and that the cost of debt systematically decreases with size for groups of firms.

This paper seeks to explore if there is an indication of a structural “glass ceiling” hindering women within business support environments. By analyzing 44 Swedish incubators’ web sites from four different perspectives, the study wants to describe and discuss the particular way gender seem to be structured in incubators’ organisations. The results reveal that there is a male dominance in the incubators’ organisations. The criteria for becoming an entrepreneur in the incubator such as characteristics are subtle. It can be assumed that hidden gender structures can prevent female entrepreneurs from entering the incubator.

Public programs and measures aimed to support business, innovation and entrepreneurship in Sweden are by tradition targeted manufacturing companies in order to develop technology and to make industry more competitive. Such initiatives are following a gender blind norm, in the way they define their fields of action, and also in how they are presented, for example regarding language and psychological accessibility. Research shows that women don‟t feel themselves addressed by these initiatives or that it concerns their companies.

We think that a deeper understanding about why women are not reached, or attracted, by official measures taken to support business growth, can guide us in developing new models, methods and tools to stimulate and facilitate a climate for growth of women‟s entrepreneurship and long-term improve the conditions for women to create, run and develop their enterprises. We exemplify this through cases from three national R&D programmes financed by VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) and KK-Stiftelsen (the Swedish Knowledge Foundation), both governmental authorities and research funders that aims to promote growth and prosperity throughout Sweden.

In the paper we discuss official efforts aimed to support business development and growth. In what way are they gender marked? What structures are active on different levels? What is the consistence between ambitions from the program managers and how presentation of the programs is received by the target groups? Who are reached and who participates? 

Using unique data where SMEs choose between standard sets we document standard choices, accounting quality, and cost of debt among 1,787 SMEs. We find that 99% use Swedish GAAP, and comparing Gazelles to Non-Gazelles; we find Gazelles are more prone to pick individual SFASC/IFRS standards. We investigate accounting quality and find little difference between the groups. We find that creditors able to assess credit risks regardless of financial reporting quality resulting in lower cost of debt for Gazelles. We show that accounting regulation is less important to SMEs who manage to provide creditors with information to assess the credit risk regardless. The reluctance to switch accounting standards suggests that financial reporting would not improve if “better” standards were enforced. This supports efforts to ease regulatory requirements for small firms such as the European Commission’s publication of the report “Less regulatory burden for small businesses” and raise the question whether the IASB’s project IFRS for SMEs is worthwhile.

By analysing 796 companies' data from 21 European countries, this research uncovered the nexus between institutional quality (IQ) and corporate sustainable performance (CSP). The relationship was theoretically examined with the lens of institutional theory and then empirically tested. The findings show that IQ has a positive and significant impact in safeguarding CSP, and firms’ characteristics play an essential preamble in this regard. We additionally found the heterogeneous impact of IQ on CSP. To come to a conclusion, we have applied random effect, two-step system GMM and quantile regression models. Our findings are consistent and empirically robust; therefore, the study disseminates key messages to policymakers and practitioners about the role of IQ in safeguarding CSP. © 2022 The Authors

The discussion of “whether it pays to be green” is ongoing. This review does not intend to solve the debate, rather it soothes it by contributing to the concept of “when it pays to be green.” By focusing on the shortcomings of existing literature reviews on the topic of corporate sustainability and financial performance (CSFP) in this hybrid review, issues were identified that had been overlooked earlier. In general, CSFP holds a positive relationship but in a time lag. Nonconclusive results about the relationship within CSFP are due to self-selection bias, endogeneity issues, and the use of multiple datasets and industry categories. Surprisingly, we also discovered that the impact of sustainability on financial performance is elusive in capitalist countries considered to be economically rational. Institutional and legitimacy requirements are a good starting point for shaping corporate behaviors in the short term; however, they might not be equally appropriate in the long term in cases when corporations shift operations to pollution havens. A multifaceted, synergistic interaction between governmental institutions, corporations, and other stakeholders is required—without imposing authority—to ensure durable sustainable development. © 2023 The Authors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The aim of this paper is to describe the extent and content of information regarding incubator management structure, selection, support and network mediation on Swedish incubators websites and analyse connections between different incubator management structure and the content of incubator best practice. The data is based on information reported on 44 incubator websites in Sweden processed within the SPSS system. The findings show that incubators with more male representation in board and coach/advisor personnel report a more active part in business support including network mediation.

The aim of this paper is to describe the extent and content of information regarding incubator management structure, selection, support and network mediation on Swedish incubators websites and analyse connections between how different incubator management structure have an impact on the content of incubator best practice. The data is based on information reported on 44 incubator websites in Sweden processed within the SPSS system. The findings show that incubators with more male representation in board and coach/advisor personnel report a more active part in business support including network mediation.