Decision to Start a New Venture: A Cross-national Study of Social Benefit Systems and Fear of Failure

Abstract

The institutional context and government policies may encourage or discourage entrepreneurship in a country. The main research question in this study is: how does a national social benefits system influence the entrepreneurial decision-making process to start a new venture across countries? The authors investigate two categories of effects: (1) the direct effects of public and private social expenditure on the entrepreneurial decision to start a new venture and (2) the multilevel interaction effects of social benefits and the individual-level ‘fear of failure to start a business’. The authors find that entrepreneurs in countries with a high level of public social expenditures are less likely to decide to start a new venture. The findings also suggest that private social expenditure weakens the negative effect of the ‘fear of failure’ on the entrepreneurial decision to start a new venture.

Citation

Moghaddam, K., Weber, T. and Maleki, A. (2023), "Decision to Start a New Venture: A Cross-national Study of Social Benefit Systems and Fear of Failure", Jafari-Sadeghi, V. and Amoozad Mahdiraji, H. (Ed.) Decision-Making in International Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Cognitive Implications Towards Entrepreneurial Internationalisation (Entrepreneurial Behaviour Series), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 49-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-233-420231003