Hien Tran
- Location
- DMS 8154
- Telephone
- (613) 562-5800 x 8832
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Biography
Hien Tran is an associate professor in strategy and entrepreneurship at the Telfer School of Management. Her research examines how institutions, organizational capabilities and individual circumstances shape entrepreneurship, innovation and experiences of work.
Her research spans entrepreneurial careers and transitions into and out of self-employment, firm innovation and strategy in changing institutional environments and the implications of entrepreneurship and employment for well-being, inequality and inclusion. Her recent work examines how family transitions and household responsibilities shape entrepreneurial decisions, as well as occupational adaptation and well-being among immigrants in Canada. She also maintains a long-standing interest in innovation and economic transformation in emerging and transition economies.
Tran’s research has appeared in journals including Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, the Journal of Business Venturing, the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Small Business Economics, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Industrial and Corporate Change and Corporate Governance: An International Review. She has received research support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Mitacs and international organizations.
Before joining Telfer, Tran held academic appointments at Edge Hill University and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. She conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Bologna. She holds a PhD in management and economics from the University of Trento and an MBA from Maastricht University. Her teaching covers strategy, entrepreneurship and innovation management.
Publications during the last 7 years
Papers in Refereed Journals
- Tran, H.T. 2026. From constraint to capability: occupational adaptation and well-being among immigrants in Canada. Small Business Economics, 66: 1947-1968.
- Tran, H.T. 2026. Self-Employment Entry Across Family Transitions: Household Capability Reallocation Over the Life Course. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 50(6): 1795–1828.
- Chu, V.T., Tran, H.T. 2025. From Believer to Entrepreneur: The Mediating Role of Eudaimonic Well-being. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 1–25.
- Freel, M., Rostamkalaei, A., Tran, H.T. 2025. Growing gains and growing pains: Examining the growth intentions of established entrepreneurs. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 19(2): 313-342.
- Chu, V.T., Tran, H.T., Freel, M. 2025. How civic engagement sparks entrepreneurial intention: the mediating role of well-being. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 37(5-6): 740-765.
- Tran, H.T., Freel, M. 2025. Socialist imprints and innovation strategies in a transition economy. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 37(1-2): 273-299.
- Tran, H.T., Rostamkalaei, A., Saridakis, G. 2024. An Analysis of Small and Medium-sized Firms’ Prosocial Behaviours in Vietnam. International Review of Entrepreneurship, 22(3): 225-256.
- Tran, H.T., Freel, M. 2023. Ownership, Innovation and Variable Institutional Quality. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 31(2): 285-306.
- Chu, V.T., Tran, H.T. 2023. Were the self-employed less happy than waged employees during the Covid-19 pandemic? Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 30(7): 1264-1297.
- Tran, H.T., Santarelli, E., Wei, W. 2022. Open innovation knowledge management in transition to market economy: integrating dynamic capability and institutional theory. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 31(7): 575-603.
- Tran, H.T., Santarelli, E. 2021. Successful transition to a market economy: an interpretation from organizational ecology theory and institutional theory. Industrial and Corporate Change, 30(3): 652-677.
- Carbonara, E., Tran, H.T., Santarelli, E. 2020. Determinants of novice, portfolio, and serial entrepreneurship: an occupational choice approach. Small Business Economics, 55(1): 123-151.
- Tran, H.T. 2019. Institutional Quality and Market Selection in the Transition to Market Economy. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(5): 105890.
Chapters in Books
- Santarelli, E., Tran, H.T. The interaction of institutional quality and human capital in shaping the dynamics of capital structure in Vietnam. In Rand, J., Tarp, F. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Vietnam. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2020.
Invited Contributions and/or Technical Reports
- Tran, H.T.. 2026. "Canada shouldn’t mistake immigrant entrepreneurship for inclusion", https://policyoptions.irpp.org/2026/05/immigrant-work-barriers/.
Funded Research during the last 7 years
| From-To | Source | Title | Purpose | Type | Role | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) | Understanding the drivers and strategies of entrepreneurial exit | R | G | PI | $10,000 |
| 2021-2023 | SSHRC | Understanding the consequences of entrepreneurship as an episodic phenomenon | R | C | PI | $86,667 |
| 2021-2021 | Institute for Human Studies at George Mason University | Reform policy and economic growth in transition economies | R | O | PI | $4,000 |
| 2020-2021 | Telfer School of Management | Research grant | R | I | PI | $10,000 |
| 2018-2019 | Telfer School of Management | Start-up grant | O | I | PI | $10,000 |
LEGEND:
Purpose
C: Contract (R and D) | E: Equipment Grant | R: Research Grant | S: Support Award | P: Pedagogical Grant | O: Other, U: Unknown
Type
C: Granting Councils | G: Government | F: Foundations | I: UO Internal Funding | O: Other | U: Unknown
Role
PI = Principal Investigator | Co-I = Co-Investigator | Co-PI = Co-Principal Investigator
