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Entrepreneurial traits and firm innovation

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  • Jocelyn Olivari

    (UNU-MERIT
    Inter-American Development Bank)

Abstract

Entrepreneurial behavior is widely considered to be influenced by the interaction between skills and motivation. And because entrepreneurial behavior is viewed as a causal determinant of firm performance, given the context in which the venture is embedded, factors determining entrepreneurial behavior are expected to influence firm performance. The research questions explored in this paper are: Do entrepreneurial traits have a direct effect on firm innovation? and if so, Is there a specific entrepreneurial profile that makes firms more innovative? I use a representative survey of firms from Chile to examine whether owners’ skills and motivations affect firm innovation. The survey collects information on both firm and owner characteristics, which allows us to put the entrepreneur back into the analysis of the determinants of firm innovation, a dimension that the related literature does not generally focus on. The survey also allows us to analyze the incidence of innovation in micro and small firms, which have been traditionally overlooked in the study of innovation, despite the fact that they represent the majority of firms in developing countries. The results from a probit model suggest that entrepreneurial traits are important in explaining firm innovation propensity, so any attempt to understand firm innovation should also take the characteristics of the entrepreneur into consideration. Furthermore, different entrepreneurial profiles are related to different firm innovation propensities, providing new evidence on the sources of firm heterogeneity. These results confirm the idea that not all entrepreneurs are the same and that some have particular traits that greatly affect the innovating performance of their ventures.

Suggested Citation

  • Jocelyn Olivari, 2016. "Entrepreneurial traits and firm innovation," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(3), pages 339-360, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurasi:v:6:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s40821-016-0060-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s40821-016-0060-6
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    2. Pål Børing, 2020. "Effect of Firms’ Age on Their Use of Highly Skilled Workers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 34(2), pages 137-153, June.
    3. Alfonso Expósito & Amparo Sanchis-Llopis & Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis, 2023. "CEO gender and SMEs innovativeness: evidence for Spanish businesses," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1017-1054, September.
    4. Dawid, Herbert & Pellegrino, Gabriele & Vivarelli, Marco, 2017. "Is the demand-pull driver equally crucial for product vs process innovation?," MERIT Working Papers 2017-035, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Thi Thu Tra Pham & Thai Vu Hong Nguyen & Son Kien Nguyen & Hieu Thi Hoang Nguyen, 2023. "Does planned innovation promote financial access? Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 13(2), pages 281-307, June.
    6. Alfonso Expósito & Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis, 2019. "The relationship between types of innovation and SMEs’ performance: a multi-dimensional empirical assessment," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 115-135, June.
    7. L. Colombo & H. Dawid & M. Piva & M. Vivarelli, 2017. "Does easy start-up formation hamper incumbents’ R&D investment?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 513-531, October.
    8. Valentina Diana Rusu & Angela Roman, 2017. "Entrepreneurial Activity in the EU: An Empirical Evaluation of Its Determinants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Dawid, Herbert & Pellegrino, Gabriele & Vivarelli, Marco, 2017. "Demand and innovation: theory and evidence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 92, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "Editorial note," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(3), pages 269-271, December.
    11. Alfonso Expósito & Amparo Sanchis-Llopis & Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis, 2022. "Manager gender, entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs export and import propensities: evidence for Spanish businesses," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(2), pages 315-347, June.
    12. Herbert Dawid & Gabriele Pellegrino & Marco Vivarelli, 2021. "The role of demand in fostering product vs process innovation: a model and an empirical test," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(5), pages 1553-1572, November.
    13. Clemente-Almendros, Jose Antonio & Nicoara-Popescu, Dorina & Pastor-Sanz, Ivan, 2024. "Digital transformation in SMEs: Understanding its determinants and size heterogeneity," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial traits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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