The emergence and impact of the military veteran entrepreneurship industry

Abstract

In the past decade, the Veteran Entrepreneurship Industry (VEI) has seen a remarkable expansion in the U.S., yet its effectiveness remains largely unexplored. Utilizing data from the National Survey of Military-Affiliated Entrepreneurs with 2222 respondents, we delve into the effectiveness of VEI and the general Entrepreneurship Industry (EI) to address veteran-specific challenges of military veteran entrepreneurs. Building on cultural and social support theories, we broaden the existing literature on EI by focusing on the specific subset of military veteran entrepreneurs. We propose an outcome-based model to measure the impact of EI on this group, emphasizing factors such as a sense of belonging, sense of purpose, transition difficulties and social capital, thereby extending the potential benefits of EI. We find a mixed impact of VEI and EI on these key outcomes, suggesting a nuanced and equivocal role of the entrepreneurship industry on military-affiliated entrepreneurs. We highlight policy implications to better serve the diverse veteran population.