Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a model suggesting that innovation may act as a motivating force that increases entrepreneurs’ growth expectations, in which entrepreneurs’ growth expectations are shaped by their subjective values and entrepreneurial experience moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approach: This paper conducts statistical analysis on a sample of 11,579 entrepreneurs from 24 countries who participated in the IIIP survey of innovation in 2011 under the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project.Findings: The results suggest that entrepreneurs involved in innovative entrepreneurship are more likely to have higher growth expectations, with subjective values playing a direct and indirect role in entrepreneurs’ expectations of firm growth. Additionally, the results indicate that the duration of entrepreneurial experience moderates the relationship between strategic orientation and confidence in innovation. This finding suggests there is feedback between having beliefs about the benefits of innovation and being an innovative entrepreneur, resulting in an over-estimation – at least in comparative terms – regarding firm growth rates. This relationship is stronger for novice entrepreneurs since experienced entrepreneurs tend to be more cautious about their expectations of growing.Originality/value: This study deepens our understanding of the complex processes through which organizational-level decisions ultimately influence individual-level factors. The present findings contribute to progress in this task by suggesting that strategies aimed at cultivating innovation feed entrepreneurs’ subjective values of innovation as well as expectations of growth. Although the duration of entrepreneurial experience moderates the relationship between acting as an innovative entrepreneur and subjective values of innovation, the results suggest that entrepreneurs’ expectations are primarily driven by their internal perceptions of reality.

This research uses hierarchical linear modelling to test the KSTE in a developing-country context. By trying this theory on a different setting as is usually studied, we attempt to identify boundary conditions, expanding this theory’s understanding. Results show the low effectiveness of this theory in a developing economy, suggesting that additional dimensions are needed to understand it completely. In reviewing the high-tech sector (the only sector in which we found evidence that the KSTE mechanisms apply), our data shows the importance of diversity for technological innovation and thus for firms born out of spillovers. Finally, we find that easiness to start a business interacts with human capital into forming high-tech new firms. Under a more bureaucratic system, high-knowledge human capital will have fewer incentives to switch from employment to self-employment and start a venture. By dealing with the specificities of developing economies when dealing with the KSTE, policymakers can avoid applying police recipes coming from findings related only to developed economies that cannot fit with the characteristics of these countries. In this context, this phenomenon is not particularly relevant for fostering new ventures, joining on the call of avoiding standardized strategies to build efficient entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Purpose: This research aims to explore the moderating effect of a natural disaster on the well-studied relationship between entrepreneurship-oriented beliefs (behavioral, normative, and control beliefs) and entrepreneurial intentions.Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor before and after the earthquake that took place in Chile on February 27, 2010. The study was performed by applying a multilevel hierarchical logit regression over a sample of 14,724 individuals from the six more affected regions.Findings: The results indicate that a natural disasters shape the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and all its three motivational antecedents, however in opposing directions. The results also suggest that a natural disaster strengthens the relationship between entrepreneurial attitudes and entrepreneurial intentions; nevertheless the effect of subjective norms becomes less relevant in shaping entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, the authors found that the earthquake had a positive effect on the relationship between perceived behavioral control and entrepreneurial intentions.Originality/value: This study advances the emerging stream of research on the micro-level consequences of exogenous shocks and how they shape individual functioning. A key implication for policymakers wishing to facilitate the recovery phase after a natural disaster is that it is important to focus on fostering entrepreneurship by developing individuals' personal attitude and perceived control over the firm-creation behavior, rather than relying on the perceived social pressure to become an entrepreneur.

Innovation is often seen as essential for ventures to succeed. High business failure rates in entrepreneurship, however, suggest that innovations are frequently driven by entrepreneurs blinded by overconfidence. Thus, anticipating when and why entrepreneurs will be motivated to innovate is fundamental for entrepreneurial success. Using a large sample obtained from population surveys conducted in 77 countries, this study analyzes the variables that are significantly associated with innovative behaviors. The research tests a model proposing that the joint effects of hubris, growth aspirations, and an entrepreneur’s level of entrepreneurial experience have a crucial impact on innovative endeavors. It finds that hubris is significantly related to entrepreneurs’ growth aspirations and that ambition, in turn, is positively related to innovative behaviors. In addition, the study finds that both relationships are moderated by the level of entrepreneurial experience. These findings highlight the need to wise up amateur entrepreneurs before they embark on innovative endeavors.