"Yes, we know!" (Over)confidence in general knowledge among Austrian entrepreneurs.

ABSTRACT: Overconfidence has been reported to be a common bias among entrepreneurs and might be one cause of the high failure rates observed for new ventures. In this study, we investigate the overconfidence bias in a sample of 92 Austrian entrepreneurs, who responded to a general-knowledge questionnaire. Their levels of overconfidence were assessed by their responses to hard, medium and easy knowledge questions, and the relations of individual, organizational and environmental factors to the bias score were analyzed. The results confirmed that entrepreneurs are indeed prone to expressing overprecision, a type of overconfidence, but not when answering questions of all levels of difficulty. Being a single founder instead of a co-founder was identified as a significant predictor of overconfidence. Con

SUBMITTER: Ilieva V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5940190 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature