IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bdi/opques/qef_936_25.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Necessity entrepreneurship, financial literacy and business performance: evidence from an international survey

Author

Listed:
  • Melanie Koch

    (Oesterreichische Nationalbank)

  • Marco Langiulli

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

While opportunity entrepreneurs open a business because they see an opportunity, necessity entrepreneurs struggle to find another way to earn (enough) money. Using novel survey data from four different countries, we explore the differences in financial literacy and business performance between necessity and opportunity entrepreneurs. The survey allows us to construct a broad measure of financial literacy relating to the business realm. We find that necessity entrepreneurs have a significantly lower level of financial literacy in all countries. Decomposition techniques show that these differences can hardly be explained by differences in age, gender or education. Necessity businesses also weathered the COVID-19 pandemic worse than opportunity businesses did. In most countries, the financial literacy gap is related to this difference in business performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Melanie Koch & Marco Langiulli, 2025. "Necessity entrepreneurship, financial literacy and business performance: evidence from an international survey," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 936, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_936_25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2025-0936/QEF_936_25.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2008. "Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 413-417, May.
    2. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2023. "The Importance of Financial Literacy: Opening a New Field," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 137-154, Fall.
    3. Jörn Block & Philipp Sandner, 2009. "Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurs and Their Duration in Self-employment: Evidence from German Micro Data," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 117-137, June.
    4. Alejandro Drexler & Greg Fischer & Antoinette Schoar, 2014. "Keeping It Simple: Financial Literacy and Rules of Thumb," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 1-31, April.
    5. Noemi Oggero & Maria Cristina Rossi & Elisa Ughetto, 2020. "Entrepreneurial spirits in women and men. The role of financial literacy and digital skills," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 313-327, August.
    6. Marco Caliendo & Frank Fossen & Alexander Kritikos, 2009. "Risk attitudes of nascent entrepreneurs–new evidence from an experimentally validated survey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 153-167, February.
    7. Nardo Vries & Werner Liebregts & André Stel, 2020. "Explaining entrepreneurial performance of solo self-employed from a motivational perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 447-460, August.
    8. Melanie Koch & Lukas Menkhoff, 2025. "The non-linear impact of risk tolerance on entrepreneurial profit and business survival," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(4), pages 1643-1670, April.
    9. Griselda, Silvia, 2024. "Gender gap in standardized tests: What are we measuring?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 191-229.
    10. David McKenzie, 2021. "Small business training to improve management practices in developing countries: re-assessing the evidence for ‘training doesn’t work’," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(2), pages 276-301.
    11. Peter Zwan & Roy Thurik & Ingrid Verheul & Jolanda Hessels, 2016. "Factors influencing the entrepreneurial engagement of opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(3), pages 273-295, December.
    12. David B. Audretsch & Maksim Belitski & Farzana Chowdhury & Sameeksha Desai, 2022. "Necessity or opportunity? Government size, tax policy, corruption, and implications for entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 2025-2042, April.
    13. Miriam Bruhn & Bilal Zia, 2013. "Stimulating managerial capital in emerging markets: the impact of business training for young entrepreneurs," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 232-266, June.
    14. Peter Zwan & Roy Thurik & Ingrid Verheul & Jolanda Hessels, 2016. "Factors influencing the entrepreneurial engagement of opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(3), pages 273-295, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marco Caliendo & Alexander S. Kritikos & Claudia Stier, 2023. "The influence of start-up motivation on entrepreneurial performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 869-889, October.
    2. Robert W. Fairlie & Frank M. Fossen, 2018. "Opportunity versus Necessity Entrepreneurship: Two Components of Business Creation," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 959, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Monika Mühlböck & Julia-Rita Warmuth & Marian Holienka & Bernhard Kittel, 2018. "Desperate entrepreneurs: no opportunities, no skills," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 975-997, December.
    4. Robert W. Fairlie & Frank M. Fossen, 2020. "Defining Opportunity versus Necessity Entrepreneurship: Two Components of Business Creation," Research in Labor Economics, in: Change at Home, in the Labor Market, and On the Job, volume 48, pages 253-289, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    5. José Ernesto Amorós & Marcelo Leporati & Alfonso Jesús Torres-Marín & Sergio Roses, 2024. "Opportunity entrepreneurship after 65: Relevant factors in OECD countries," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 1215-1244, June.
    6. André Stel & Ana Millán & José María Millán & Concepción Román, 2018. "The relationship between start-up motive and earnings over the course of the entrepreneur’s business tenure," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 101-123, January.
    7. Jolanda Hessels & Peter van der Zwan, 2013. "Start-up motivation and (in)voluntary exit," Scales Research Reports H201309, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    8. Sseruyange, J. & Bulte, E., 2018. "Do Incentives matter for Knowledge Diffusion? Experimental Evidence from Uganda," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275896, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Niclas Lavesson, 2018. "How does distance to urban centres influence necessity and opportunity‐based firm start‐ups?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1279-1303, November.
    10. Frank M. Fossen & Trevor McLemore & Alina Sorgner, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 20(8), pages 781-904, December.
    11. Djula Borozan & Sanja Pfeifer, 2014. "Exploring Entrepreneurs’ Motivation: Comparison of Croatia, European Post-socialist and Developed Countries," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 23(2), pages 263-287, September.
    12. Mihaela Vancea & Mireia Utzet, 2017. "Does Unemployment and Precarious Employment Lead to Increasing Entrepreneurial Intentions among Young People? Results from a Survey-Based Study in Spain," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(2), pages 5-17.
    13. Maksim Belitski & Christina Guenther & Alexander S. Kritikos & Roy Thurik, 2022. "Economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on entrepreneurship and small businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 593-609, February.
    14. Lusardi, Annamaria & Kaiser, Tim, 2024. "Financial literacy and financial education: An overview," CEPR Discussion Papers 19185, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Paul Couteret, 2010. "Peut-on aider les entrepreneurs contraints ? Une étude exploratoire," Post-Print hal-03540524, HAL.
    16. Cumurovic, Aida & Hyll, Walter, 2016. "Financial Literacy and Self-Employment," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145732, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    17. Preeya Mohan & Patrick Watson & Eric Strobl, 2018. "Nascent Entrepreneurs In Caribbean Small Island Developing States: Opportunity Versus Necessity," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Yaron Zelekha & Erez Yaakobi & Gil Avnimelech, 2018. "Attachment orientations and entrepreneurship," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 495-522, August.
    19. Jolanda Hessels & Brigitte Hoogendoorn & Peter van der Zwan & Nardo de Vries, 2013. "Global Entrepreneurship Monitor The Netherlands 2012," Scales Research Reports H201314, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    20. Rodriguez Torres, Omar, 2021. "How different are necessity and opportunity firms? Evidence from a quantile analysis of the Colombian microenterprise sector," MERIT Working Papers 2021-019, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_936_25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdigvit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.