The Relationship between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Firm Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Main and Moderator Effects

Abstract

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is an important construct in entrepreneurship research. It captures entrepreneurs' specific self-efficacy in accomplishing entrepreneurial tasks. Because various empirical results exist in past studies of the ESE-firm performance relationship, we employed meta-analysis to review and synthesize the current literature concerning this relationship and to address moderators that influence it. We meta-analyzed 27 samples from 26 studies with a total sample size of 5,065 firms and found that the corrected ESE-firm performance correlation is 0.309. We found that the firm performance measurement is a significant moderator and we suggest scholars to further identify moderators.

Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature

“…However, even as gender was not related to ESE, women reported lower entrepreneurial career intentions, suggesting that the relationship of gender to entrepreneurial intentions is likely quite complex. As pointed out by Miao et al (2016) in their meta-analysis of ESE, most other studies also find a positive relationship between ESE and entrepreneurial intentions and/or venture creation. 6 To summarize these cross-sectional studies and meta-analyses, students who display certain Big-5 traits (i.e., more open to new experiences, more conscientious, more extraverted, and less neurotic) and higher levels of ESE, internal LOC, and need for achievement are the group most likely to enter entrepreneurship after graduating from university.…”

The changing form of overconfidence and its effect on growth expectations at the early stages of startups

“…Entrepreneurs with high ESE were theorized to perform better than their peers because of setting more challenging goals, investing more effort to achieve those goals, and being more persistent when meeting obstacles (e.g., Markman et al 2002;Trevelyan 2011). However, in a meta-analysis of 26 studies, Miao et al (2017) found only a moderate correlation (0.309) between ESE and company performance, with several pieces of research ascertaining a weak or even negative relationship.…”

“…In general, outcomes of actions and outcome expectations depend largely on how people evaluate their general or more specific task-related skills (see Bandura 2006;Fishbein & Ajzen 2011). However, in the field of entrepreneurship, the relationship between perceived entrepreneurial skills and actual growth seems to vary largely from negative to positive (see Miao et al 2017 for summary). What could cause the observed inconsistencies?…”

Firm Financing and Growth: The Influence of Owner’s and Firm’s Characteristics

“…For these reasons, individuals who consider themselves efficacious in performing entrepreneurial roles and tasks are more likely to enter the entrepreneurial environment than those who do not (Chen et al, 1998). Highly motivated and self-confident entrepreneurs are linked to higher firm`s performance (Chandler & Jansen, 1992;Khedhaouria, Gurău, & Torrès, 2015;Miao, Qian, & Ma, 2017).…”