• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.93-104
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• 2019

The entrepreneurship can be a source of national growth potential as behavioral tendencies of people who seek innovation, take risks of failure, and proactively respond to opportunities. In particular, in the economic situation of Korea where growth has been stagnated, it is necessary to strengthen the entrepreneurship of women which is relatively lower than men's in order to activate the start-up and economic participation of the whole people. In this regard, this study focuses not only on gender differences in entrepreneurship but also on the hidden impact of social contexts that cause gender differences in entrepreneurship. Specifically, this study examined the moderating effects of childbirth, a factor that reflects the social context of Korea in the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship. According to the results of the model that includes the interaction effect of these variables in addition to the independent effects of gender and childbirth, the gender effect disappeared, while the significant effect of both the childbirth variable and the interaction variable of gender and childbirth were confirmed. Furthermore, according to additional analysis, which identified the differences in entrepreneurship by creating four types of treatment groups based on gender and childbirth status, entrepreneurship was significantly lower in the 'female and childbirth' group than in all other groups. The difference between the remaining treatment groups was not statistically significant. These results indicate that differences in entrepreneurship levels between men and women overlap not with the unique trait of men and women, but with the social contextual effects of Korea, where women are under the full burden of childbirth and parenting. This study suggests implications that effective policy measures to promote women's entrepreneurship or economic activity should be taken by taking into account the social context of Korea that suppresses women's entrepreneurial behavior.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.185-196
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• 2023

This paper investigates the effects of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases on business opportunity evaluation, given their strong entrepreneurial spirit, which is characterized by innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking. When making decisions related to business activities, entrepreneurs typically make rational judgments based on their knowledge, experience, and the advice of external experts. However, in situations of extreme stress or when quick decisions are required, they often rely on heuristics based on their cognitive biases. In particular, we often see cases where entrepreneurs fail because they make decisions based on heuristics in the process of evaluating and selecting new business opportunities that are planned to guarantee the growth and sustainability of their companies. This study was conducted in response to the need for research to clarify the effects of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases on new business opportunity evaluation, given that the cognitive biases of entrepreneurs, which are formed by repeated successful experiences, can sometimes lead to business failure. Although there have been many studies on the effects of cognitive biases on entrepreneurship and opportunity evaluation among university students and general people who aspire to start a business, there have been few studies that have clarified the relationship between cognitive biases and social networks among entrepreneurs. In contrast to previous studies, this study conducted empirical surveys of entrepreneurs only, and also conducted research on the relationship with social networks. For the study, a survey was conducted using a parallel survey method using online mobile surveys and self-report questionnaires from 150 entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises. The results of the study showed that 'overconfidence' and 'illusion of control', among the independent variables of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases, had a statistically significant positive(+) effect on business opportunity evaluation. In addition, it was confirmed that the moderating variable, social network, moderates the effect of overconfidence on business opportunity evaluation. This study showed that entrepreneurs' cognitive biases play a role in the process of evaluating and selecting new business opportunities, and that social networks play a role in moderating the structural relationship between entrepreneurs' cognitive biases and business opportunity evaluation. This study is expected to be of great help not only to entrepreneurs, but also to entrepreneur education and policy making, by showing how entrepreneurs can use cognitive biases in a positive way and the influence of social networks.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.127-139
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• 2023

During the process of preparing for and initiating a startup, startup entrepreneurs allocate a significant amount of time to developing a business plan. Within this process, the documented business plan serves not only as a roadmap for the venture but also as a communication tool for capital acquisition and internal team collaboration. However, is the business plan, meticulously crafted by entrepreneurs, actually effective in generating startup performance? To answer this question, this study empirically analyzed the impact of a business plan on startup performance. Additionally, it examined how the relationship between the business plan and performance changes based on the satisfaction levels of entrepreneurs regarding the business plan. Through the analysis, the study validated the influence of the completeness of the business plan and entrepreneurial satisfaction on startup performance, and derived implications. To conduct the empirical analysis, a survey was conducted among 150 entrepreneurs. Regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between the completeness of the business plan and performance, and the sample was further divided into two groups: startups with less than three years of operation and startups with three or more years of operation, for secondary analysis. The analysis results revealed that the completeness of the startup's business plan has a positive impact on both financial and non-financial performance. Furthermore, it is observed that the entrepreneur's satisfaction with the business plan had a moderating effect on the relationship between the business plan and financial performance. Moreover, for startups that are less than three years old, the entrepreneur's satisfaction with the business plan exhibits a moderating effect on the relationship between the completeness of the business plan and non-financial performance. This study holds significance as it reaffirms the importance of business plan development as a means to achieve sustainable growth for early-stage startups and empirically validates its significance. It is expected that this study will provide valuable insights for future startup entrepreneurs to better understand the importance of business planning and contribute to reducing the failure rate of early-stage startups.