***M.Sc. Students, these seminars can count towards the six mandatory Research Seminars Series required for your program (MGT 6191/ MGT 6991 / MHS 6991) (4 seminars for MSc Project-based students).***
IMPORTANT - DATE AND ROOM CHANGE
Jonah Zankl, PhD
Angel investors, typically seasoned entrepreneurs and industry experts, contribute 'smart money'—combining financial capital with social capital and knowledge resources—into early-stage ventures. Recent regulatory actions aimed at enhancing investor protections have inadvertently posed an existential threat to the angel investing community. Proposals introduced in Australia suggest many current angel investors face exclusion from investing based on changed wealth-based and income-based thresholds for participation. Thus, while policymakers celebrate ‘smart money’, investor know-how is reduced to tests of wealth alone. The proposed changes disproportionately marginalize female and Indigenous angel investors, thereby limiting entrepreneurial opportunities for these communities.
Prior theory suggests that such regulatory threat would be an opportune moment to strike debate over change for a more inclusive institution. In this study, however, we ask how do concerned actors, in their responses to external regulatory threats, inadvertently reinforce exclusive institutions? In this paper, I focus on two related parliamentary reviews in Australia as opportunities to scrutinize attempts for collective action to inspire an inclusive institutional change, change which failed to materialize. Using inductive analysis of community submissions and media related to these parliamentary reviews, I identify the discursive strategies employed by the angel investment community. While these strategies have mitigated the immediate regulatory threat, they have also resulted in an institutional settlement that continues to exclude marginalized communities. This study seeks to advance understanding of how discursive strategies contribute to the unintended perpetuation of exclusive institutions, thus shaping the broader societal organization of entrepreneurship.
About the Speaker
Jonah Zankl is a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at The University of Queensland’s Business School in Brisbane, Australia. His research focuses on understanding the systems and interdependencies between support for entrepreneurial activity, social innovation, and social change, asking broadly “how do societies support the organization of entrepreneurship and in turn ensure its positive impact on society?” Jonah's current research is primarily qualitative and includes study of entrepreneurial ecosystems and complexity, heuristics for systems thinking in scholarship and practice, and entrepreneurial finance including regulatory change and decision-making. His most recent work understanding the required systems change for responsible entrepreneurship has been published in Academy of Management Review. Jonah holds a PhD in Management Studies from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
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