Entrepreneurial engagement and firm performance A meta-study on the contingent effect of institutional configurations

Building on the varieties of capitalism literature, we examine the extent to which the different modes of coordination that underly institutional configurations influence value appropriation from entrepreneurial engagement. We theorize how the consistency of these modes of coordination across different institutions, in particular, affects value appropriation. Doing so, we test the influence of a collection of formal institutions instead of institutions in isolation of one another. We take stock of prior research and conduct a meta-analysis on the effect of entrepreneurial engagement in small and medium-sized enterprises across 13 OECD countries. The extent to which firms appropriate value from entrepreneurial engagement decreases in contexts that are characterized by inconsistency in the way institutions support firm coordination. Furthermore, this moderating effect of institutional inconsistency is U-shaped. This study adds to previous work on the effect of institutional configurations and comparative capitalism, showing how inconsistency across coordination mechanisms matters for the effectiveness of entrepreneurial engagement. Our findings also have implications for managers and policymakers."