Research On The Differences Of Entrepreneurs' Risk Attitude And Its Impact On Business Performance

Risk attitude of entrepreneurs has been a hot topic widely researched.But previous studies are more concerned about the differences of risk attitudes between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs,such as between entrepreneurs and managers,entrepreneurs vs.bankers,or entrepreneurs vs.employees,while researches in the differences of risk attitude between entrepreneurs have been relatively few in number.Some Scholars discussed the different risk attitude between Opportunistic and Survivalist entrepreneurs,and found that opportunistic entrepreneur's risk appetite is higher than S urvivalist.Here we noted that difference of psychological characteristics among entrepreneurs is much greater than the differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs as a whole,so the different risk attitude of entrepreneurs is more worthy of our consideration.This study based itself on former's work,and further explores the different risk attitude among entrepreneurs and their impact on business performance.As a group,entrepreneurs are considered to be generally adventurous.This may not be true,while they are constituted by a vast variety of heterogeneous individuals.There are people like Bill Gates,who began as a starter and involved all the way to become a business giant with tens of billions of dollars in assets,there are also a variety of small shopkeepers.Our study focused on the individual entrepreneur,rather than the corporate entrepreneur.This type of individual entrepreneurs is characterized by higher power in decision-making and unlimited liability.We start with an analysis on the psychological factors which will have an impact on individual entrepreneurs' risk attitude.As previous studies have found,regular focus tendency have an impact on a variety of individual psychological factors,so we test the moderate effect of regular focus tendency on psychological factors and risk attitude.And then verified that risk attitude has the mediator effect between psychological factors and business performance.In the first chapter,the introduction,the thesis started with a description of the research background and research topics,chapters' arrangements and significance of the study,etc.,followed by presentation of the research methods,inner logic and general framework,laying a foundation for further research in later chapters.In the second chapter,a basic review on relative theory and literature has been conducted,covering the following issues:individual risk attitude of entrepreneurs,risk taking decisions,regular focus theory,entrepreneurial performance,with a review of the latest progress and comment respectively.The third chapter contains our theoretical model,starting with a comprehensive analysis of all the various influencing factors of entrepreneurs' risk attitude.Then,an analysis of psycho logical factors which influence on risk attitude of entrepreneurs was presented,in light of regular focus theory.And finally we proposed a conceptual model of this study and the hypotheses of this study.Therefore,this chapter is the logical starting point of the whole thesis.The fourth chapter describes the research plan and research methods.Based on the analyzes of conceptual model and the hypotheses made in the last chapter,covering such details as questionnaire design,samples selection and collection,variable selection and test,introduction of analysis methods and tools,and other aspects,proving the data to be relevant and enough for the thesis,which will serve as a support to subsequent empirical research.Chapter five is constituted with empirical analysis,using multi-variable statistic methods to verify our models and assumptions,including the correlation between psychological factors and entrepreneur's risk attitude,regulating impact of focus tendency have on individual risk attitude,and the mediating affect of entrepreneur's risk attitude,ending with a summarization of the results.In the sixth chapter,we included an in-depth analyze of conclusions and applicable areas,as well as a list of possible new topics for further study,along with future work prospects.Our conclusions are as follows:1,There is a strong correlation betweenpsychological factors and entrepreneurs' risk attitude,with positive correlationbetween self-esteem and risk attitude,positive correlation between achievementmotivation and risk attitude,negative correlation between emotional control-risk perception and risk attitude;2,Regular focus will produce a moderate effect between psychological factors and risk attitude.Promotion focus adjusts risk perception and risk attitude.Defense focus works on risk attitude mainly by adjustment in achievement motivation and self-esteem;3,Risk attitude will generate a mediator effect between psychological factors and entrepreneurial performance.Risk attitude plays a partial mediating role between self-esteem and financial performance,between risk perception and growth performance,and play a full mediating role between achievement motivation-emotional control and growth performance.To sum it up,risk attitude of entrepreneurs can be affected by a wide variety of psychological and regular focus factors.It plays a mediating role between psychological fectors and entrepreneurial performance.Regular focus,in turn,regulates psychological factors and risk attitude.And the theory model of this study is verified.Main contribution of this study:1,Laid out the underlying psychological reason for the difference in entrepreneurs' risk attitudes.2,This paper contends that regular focus tendency mainly regulates through a variety of psychological factors to influence entrepreneurial risk attitude,and provided verification for this view.3,This paper discusses mediating role of risk attitude between psychological factors and entrepreneurial performance.In conclusion,this study's conclusions help us to understand individual differences in risk attitude of entrepreneurs and their impact on business performance,and has its merits in theoretical as well as in practical sense.