I disagree with this , effective stack sizes shouldnt matter at all unless you are at the final table and you have to be concerned about icm.
Just make +ev moves , dont make -ev shoves just because you want to catchup.
There are charts online who tells you what is profitable to shove at 10-15bb , i personally start to shove around 12bb , i miniraise before that unless i have a really strong hand and i dont want to see a flop with it.
A good play with 15bb is to limp with unpaired highcards like AQ or AK and shove against a raise because you dont want to see a flop with them and forced to fold when you miss.
Holdemresources.net and icmizer both have the charts you are looking for.
-Ev moves are worth doing IF you already have a good stack and you want to accumulate a gigantic stack because it will allow you to bully your table easier.
effective stack sizes nearly always matter, IMO.
Blindly folding, shoving, or limp/shoving your entire playable range just because you are below an arbitrary line in the sand of "15bb" is a very simplistic strategy.
Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to adopt a push/fold strategy at a certain stack size. And if you don't possess any more complex tactics in your arsenal, then it is a perfectly fine strategy as it is hard for your opponents to defend against.
But there are more complex, lower variance ways that a good player can play a 15bb stack WHEN it is roughly the average stack.
For instance, I play in a weekly $80 live crapshoot tourney. It usually gets about 12 tables and usually top 18 are paid. Once we get to 3 tables the average stack is about 12-15bb because the structure sucks.
By the time we get to 3 tables I usually have a lot of skill equity vs. the field and I usually have an average stack. I'm not going to give them the privilege of flipping against me since there are much easier ways for me to get chips. Contrary to popular belief, there is still some play left at a 15bb average stack.
Here are the moves I will consider using at a 15bb average stack depending on table factors:
1)min raise, fold to a 3bet.
2)min raise, jam on a 3bet
3)min raise, call a jam
4)limp AK early pos and call any jam, fold if I miss the flop and they bet into me (rare table dynamics needed here)
5)re-steal all in vs. a light opener (usually with at least a speculative hand like 57s at the worst)
6)open jam marginal hands like KQ, 77 vs. "sticky" blind defenders
7)defend blinds vs. a min raise, then jam any flop that misses their perceived range (stop n go)
8)defend blinds vs. a min raise, then check raise all in when I hit a piece of the flop and I think they didn't
9)flat a min raise in position with a monster hoping to induce a squeeze shove.
10)min raise pre with 2 big cards. Jam on almost any flop (double barrel shove)
So, just right there with what I can think of off the top of my head there are 10 moves beyond just fold/shove. Now, admittedly there is not much play left after a flop bet.
at least, that's my $0.02