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Buddhist entrepreneurs and new venture performance: the mediating role of entrepreneurial risk-taking

Small Business Economics volume 52, pages 713–727 (2019)Cite this article

Abstract

This study examines how Buddhism as an Eastern religion influences new venture performance. We propose that Buddhist values and associations can bring unique benefits to new ventures founded by Buddhist entrepreneurs and help improve new venture performance. We further advance that at least part of these religious benefits will be realized through an entrepreneurial risk-taking strategy, as reflected in research and development investment and debt financing. Analysis of a sample of 1032 entrepreneurs in China provides supportive evidence for our arguments. The study has implications for research on the relationships among religion, risk-taking, and performance, and on the differences between Eastern and Western religions.

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Fig. 1

Notes

  1. This instrumental variable refers to the number of temples in the province in which the new venture is located. Data come from the survey conducted by Michigan State University, Purdue University, and Wuhan University (Hong et al. 2012).

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Editor-in-Chief Zoltan Acs, the Special Issue Guest Editors, Canfei He, Jiangyong Lu, and Haifeng Qian, the anonymous reviewers, and Yantai Chen for their invaluable comments and suggestions. We also thank Jay Anand and Supradeep Dutta for a helpful conversation on this topic.

Funding

We would like to acknowledge the funding from the National Social Science Foundation of China (grant number: 15BGL166) and the Specialized Research Fund for Postgraduate Innovation Programs of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (grant number: CXJJ-2016-337).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Business Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, No.777, Guoding Road, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Zhiyang Liu, Zuhui Xu & Zhao Zhou

  2. School of Management, State University of New York at Buffalo, 326 Jacobs Management Center, Amherst, NY, 14260, USA

    Yong Li

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  1. Zhiyang Liu
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  2. Zuhui Xu
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  4. Yong Li
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Correspondence to Zuhui Xu or Yong Li.

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Liu, Z., Xu, Z., Zhou, Z. et al. Buddhist entrepreneurs and new venture performance: the mediating role of entrepreneurial risk-taking. Small Bus Econ 52, 713–727 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9981-4

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Keywords

  • Buddhism
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Risk-taking
  • New venture performance
  • China

JEL classification

  • G32
  • L25
  • L26
  • M13
  • Z12
  • O53

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