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Founder personality and start-up subsidies

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  • Chapman, Gary
  • Hottenrott, Hanna

Abstract

Start-up subsidies play an important role in supporting start-up innovation and performance. However, what characteristics help and hinder start-ups to seek start-up subsidies remains unclear. We study whether and how founder personality, as captured by the big five personality traits and entrepreneurial orientation, impacts entrepreneurs' seeking of start-up subsidies. We argue that greater founder openness, extraversion and entrepreneurial orientation enhance seeking of start-up subsidies, while greater founder agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism inhibits it. Additionally, we argue that entrepreneurial orientation plays a mediating role in the relationship between big five personality traits and start-up subsidies. Drawing on a large multi-sector sample of German start-ups, we find strong evidence for a positive role of founder entrepreneurial orientation. While we find little evidence for a direct effect of a founder's big five personality, we find evidence of an indirect effect through its influence on entrepreneurial orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Chapman, Gary & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2023. "Founder personality and start-up subsidies," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-008, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:23008
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Start-up subsidies; start-up financing; entrepreneurship policy; entrepreneurial orientation; big five personality traits; venture capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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