The Influence of Entrepreneurial Learning in New Firms’ Performance: A Study in Costa Rica

• Main Authors: Juan Carlos Leiva, Joaquín Alegre, Ricardo Monge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2014-10-01
• Series: Innovar: Revista de Ciencias Administrativas y Sociales
• Subjects: Entrepreneurial learning; entrepreneurial performance; knowledge relatedness; business plans; start-ups
• Online Access: http://www.revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/innovar/article/view/47563

The creation of new firms is important for the economy, and entrepreneurial learning is essential for the performance of new firms. We contribute to existing knowledge by combining these two topics and considering a third one: The role of multinational companies (MNCs) as a source of learning for the entrepreneur. This approach has rarely been taken in the literature. We investigated the performance of a group of young companies created by former employees of MNCs and their relationship with entrepreneurial learning in such companies. The study was based on a sample of 175 former employees of MNCs in Costa Rica, who founded their own firm between 2001 and 2007. The control group was formed in the same sectors and over the same time period, but contained people who were not former employees of MNCs. We found a positive linear relationship between post-start-up entrepreneurial learning and performance. No relationship was found between pre-start-up entrepreneurial learning and performance. We did not find significant differences in entrepreneurs with work experience in MNCs. This poses interesting questions for future work.