ABSTRACT
For many years, Nepal has relied on the import of labour by foreign countries to sustain its economy with income from remittances having approached 30% of the national gross domestic product for close to a decade. Besides being the most valuable source of hard currency, earnings by labour migrants have also contributed to reducing poverty levels drastically in recent years while also providing the impetus for rapid urbanization and rising consumerism. All of that has now been put in jeopardy as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic that has led to tens of thousands of Nepali workers being laid off in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, the major destination for Nepalis in foreign employment. This chapter explores how the pandemic has affected the foreign employment sector with a particular focus on the number of Nepalis returning home, how the government plans to deal with a large number of unemployed young men and women, the expected reduction in remittances, and the possible social dislocations as a result of sudden loss of inflow of cash in the rural hinterlands of the economy. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
ABSTRACT
Why do some potential entrepreneurs promptly engage in entrepreneurial behavior while others do not pursue their entrepreneurial intentions or delay acting? This study investigated whether potential entrepreneurs' mindset shapes engaging in entrepreneurial behavior and the time until they do so. Over a 16-month period, holding more of a growth (vs. fixed) mindset positively predicted taking various entrepreneurial actions and doing so sooner. Interestingly, these effects vanished when individuals faced a less challenging context for entrepreneurship. Post-hoc exploratory analyses revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic magnified the impact of mindsets on entrepreneurial behavior. These findings pave the way for preliminary research on the viability of growth mindset interventions for fostering entrepreneurial behavior.