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Entrepreneurial Risk: Have We Been Asking the Wrong Question?

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  • Norton, William I, Jr
  • Moore, William T

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are often thought to engage in "risky" behaviors. Thus, they may be seen as more willing than average to take risks. We offer a dissenting view. Central to entrepreneurship is the alertness perspective which suggests that entrepreneurs may assess opportunities and threats differently than non-entrepreneurs. That differential assessment may be understood in terms of Bayesian probability. The Bayesian model argues that differing assessments of prospective outcomes may be attributable to differences in prior information. This perspective on risk assessment has implications for entrepreneurial decision making, whether to launch a new venture or adopt a growth strategy. The literature is reviewed, a synthesis is offered, a numerical example is developed, and a research agenda is proposed. Copyright 2002 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Suggested Citation

  • Norton, William I, Jr & Moore, William T, 2002. "Entrepreneurial Risk: Have We Been Asking the Wrong Question?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 281-287, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:18:y:2002:i:4:p:281-87
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    Cited by:

    1. Iulia E. Labunets & Igor A. Mayburov, 2023. "Rationality of the Tax and Economic Behavior of Enterprises in the Russian Forestry Sector," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 9(1), pages 110-127.
    2. James A. Cunningham & Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter, 2022. "The organizational architecture of entrepreneurial universities across the stages of entrepreneurship: a conceptual framework," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 11-27, June.
    3. William Norton & William Moore, 2006. "The Influence of Entrepreneurial Risk Assessment on Venture Launch or Growth Decisions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 215-226, April.
    4. Morgan, Horatio M. & Sui, Sui & Baum, Matthias, 2018. "Are SMEs with immigrant owners exceptional exporters?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 241-260.
    5. Robin M. Hogarth & Natalia Karelaia, 2012. "Entrepreneurial Success and Failure: Confidence and Fallible Judgment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1733-1747, December.
    6. Saulo Dubard Barbosa & Alain Fayolle & Brett Smith, 2019. "Biased and overconfident, unbiased but going for it: How framing and anchoring affect the decision to start a new venture," Post-Print hal-01988083, HAL.
    7. Saulo Dubard Barbosa & Brett R. Smith, 2024. "Specifying the role of religion in entrepreneurial action: a cognitive perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1315-1336, April.
    8. Thelma Quince & Hugh Whittaker, 2003. "Entrepreneurial Orientation and Entrepreneurs' Intentions and Objectives," Working Papers wp271, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    9. Saulo Dubard-Barbosa & Brett Smith, 2024. "Specifying the role of religion in entrepreneurial action : A cognitive perspective," Post-Print hal-04348222, HAL.
    10. Teresa Felgueira & Ricardo Gouveia Rodrigues, 2020. "I-ENTRE-U: an individual entrepreneurial orientation scale for teachers and researchers in higher education institutions," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, March.
    11. Muhammad Aqil & Rizwan Raheem Ahmed & Jolita Vveinhardt & Dalia Streimikiene, 2019. "Factors Influencing the Profitability of Heavy Vehicle Industry: A Case of Pakistan," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 15(1), pages 61-72.
    12. Brian Wu & Anne Marie Knott, 2006. "Entrepreneurial Risk and Market Entry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(9), pages 1315-1330, September.
    13. Ramesh Kumar Chaturvedi, 2022. "Enhancing the productive engagement of COVID-19-driven workers’ exodus through micro-entrepreneurship: accentuated role of de-globalization and local innovations," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 385-394, December.
    14. Dubard Barbosa, Saulo & Fayolle, Alain & Smith, Brett R., 2019. "Biased and overconfident, unbiased but going for it: How framing and anchoring affect the decision to start a new venture," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 528-557.
    15. Lanivich, Stephen E. & Smith, Adam & Levasseur, Ludvig & Pidduck, Robert J. & Busenitz, Lowell & Tang, Jintong, 2022. "Advancing entrepreneurial alertness: Review, synthesis, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1165-1176.

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