Research On The Relationship Among Prior Experience, Entrepreneurial Learning And Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition

Popular entrepreneurship and mass innovation becomes a new engine of China’s economy with the deceleration of financial condition and acceleration of economic transformation. Furthermore, theory and practice shows that entrepreneurship plays an important role in promoting innovation, improving the employment rate, releasing the social vitality and boosting the regional economic development. In recent years, the entrepreneurship has become a key to promoting the economic growth and solving the employment problems as the national economic development steps into the "new normal" phase. However, startups often suffer barriers from identifying entrepreneurial opportunity. Among the factors of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, prior experience and entrepreneurial learning can help entrepreneurs preferably identify entrepreneurial opportunities.This paper introduces a model about "entrepreneurs’prior experience entrepreneurial learning--entrepreneurial opportunity recognition" to examine the intrinsic link among those three variables by means of literature research method, empirical research method and data statistics method. After digging into mass literatures, in this paper entrepreneurs’prior experience is measured by entrepreneurial experience, industry experience and function experience, entrepreneurial learning is surveyed by exploratory and exploitative learning, entrepreneurial opportunity is determined by recognition which is novel, independent, potential, desirable, sustainable, practical. Besides, theoretical model and research hypothesis is proved through carring out the collected data by descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, validity analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis using SPSS 21 statistical software. Consequently, in the first place this paper verifies the role of entrepreneur’s prior experience in identificating entrepreneurial opportunities. All the dimensions of entrepreneurs’ prior experience have a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition and prior experience more rich, more conducive to the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities. In the second place, this paper verifies the entrepreneurs’ prior experience can positively influence the entrepreneurial learning. The more experience, the higher level of entrepreneurial learning. In the third place, this paper verifies the positive impact of entrepreneurial learning and those two dimensions both have positive impact on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. Finally, this paper verifies the entrepreneurial learning plays a partial intermediary role between the prior experience and entrepreneurial opportunity recognition. By improving the stock of knowledge, forming a unique cognitive structure, enhancing the experience of conversion and knowledge acquisition, entrepreneurs improve the level of entrepreneurial learning which leads to a positive impact on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition.This research above will enrich the theory of entrepreneurial management, complete the study about prior experience, entrepreneurial learning and entrepreneurial’s relationship, and supplement the lack of empirical research. Moreover, this paper will help China’s entrepreneurial understand prior experience’s effect to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, comprehend the importance of prior experience and entrepreneurial learning to entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, enable entrepreneurs pay more attention to the accumulation of expirence and to enhance the entrepreneurial learning level. In addition, this research provides a theoretical and practical reference to potential entrepreneurs.