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Prior-knowledge and opportunity identification

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  • Jason Arentz
  • Frederic Sautet
  • Virgil Storr

Abstract

An entrepreneur’s prior knowledge and experience play a critical role in his ability to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. Although entrepreneurship research has acknowledged the role that prior information and prior knowledge play in opportunity recognition, few studies have explored their role in entrepreneurial discovery. We test the role of a particular prior knowledge in entrepreneurial discovery within a laboratory setting. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. Those in the propitious treatment were given prior knowledge that oriented them toward the arbitrage opportunity within the experiment, and those in the unpropitious treatment were given prior knowledge that oriented them away. As hypothesized, those in the propitious treatment were significantly more likely to discover the arbitrage opportunity. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Jason Arentz & Frederic Sautet & Virgil Storr, 2013. "Prior-knowledge and opportunity identification," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 461-478, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:41:y:2013:i:2:p:461-478
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-012-9437-9
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    2. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Hsu, Dan K. & Burmeister-Lamp, Katrin & Simmons, Sharon A. & Foo, Maw-Der & Hong, Michelle C. & Pipes, Jesse D., 2019. "“I know I can, but I don't fit”: Perceived fit, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 311-326.
    4. Marie Gomez Breysse, 2016. "L'entrepreneur « lifestyle »," Post-Print hal-01995343, HAL.
    5. Ginny Seung Choi & Virgil Henry Storr, 2023. "Who wins in the game of the market?," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 125-139, March.
    6. Aldawod, Alvin, 2022. "A framework for the opportunity recognition process in UK entrepreneurial universities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Dan Cohen & Dan K. Hsu & Rachel S. Shinnar, 2021. "Identifying innovative opportunities in the entrepreneurship classroom: a new approach and empirical test," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1931-1955, December.
    8. Simon Parker, 2014. "Who become serial and portfolio entrepreneurs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 887-898, December.
    9. Vandor, Peter & Franke, Nikolaus, 2016. "See Paris and… found a business? The impact of cross-cultural experience on opportunity recognition capabilities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 388-407.
    10. Gina Santos & Carla S. Marques & João J. M. Ferreira, 2018. "What are the antecedents of women’s entrepreneurial orientation?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 807-821, December.
    11. Vatankhah, Sanaz & Bamshad, Vahideh & Altinay, Levent & De Vita, Glauco, 2023. "Understanding business model development through the lens of complexity theory: Enablers and barriers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    12. Jing Xia & Wei Liu & Sang-Bing Tsai & Guodong Li & Chien-Chi Chu & Kai Wang, 2018. "A System Dynamics Framework for Academic Entrepreneurship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-25, July.
    13. D. Cagno & A. Galliera & W. Güth & N. Pace & L. Panaccione, 2017. "Experience and gender effects in acquisition experiment with value messages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 71-97, January.
    14. Virgil Henry Storr & Stefanie Haeffele-Balch & Laura E. Grube, 2015. "Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster," Perspectives from Social Economics, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-31489-5, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Alertness; Discovery; Entrepreneurship; Opportunity; Prior knowledge; D80; L26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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