Deliberate practice among South African small business owners: Relationships with education, cognitive ability, knowledge, and success

Unger, Jens; Keith, Nina; Hilling, Christine; Gielnik, Michael M.; Fresé, Michael

doi:10.1348/096317908x304361

Cited by 97 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 90 publications

(145 reference statements)

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“…Schmidt et al (1986) find that learning through experience matters for job performance, and that cognitive ability speeds up the process of job learning. In a similar vein, Unger et al (2009) find that more cognitively able entrepreneurs engage in more learning, which in turn helps their businesses grow faster. Cognitive ability also improves job training performance (see Schmidt and Hunter, 2004, for a survey of the evidence).…”

mentioning

confidence: 82%

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

Gill

Prowse²

2016

Journal of Political Economy

207

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. In this paper we investigate how cognitive ability and character skills influence behavior, success and the evolution of play towards Nash equilibrium in repeated strategic interactions. We study behavior in a p-beauty contest experiment and find striking differences according to cognitive ability: more cognitively able subjects choose numbers closer to equilibrium, converge more frequently to equilibrium play and earn more even as behavior approaches the equilibrium prediction. To understand better how subjects with different cognitive abilities learn differently, we estimate a structural model of learning based on level-k reasoning. We find a systematic positive relationship between cognitive ability and levels; furthermore, the average level of more cognitively able subjects responds positively to the cognitive ability of their opponents, while the average level of less cognitively able subjects does not respond. Finally, we compare the influence of cognitive ability to that of character skills, and find that both cognition and personality affect behavior and learning. More agreeable and emotionally stable subjects perform better and learn faster, although the effect of cognitive ability on behavior is stronger than that of character skills.JEL Classification: C92, C73, D83

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mentioning

confidence: 82%

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

Gill

Prowse²

2016

Journal of Political Economy

207

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“…Furthermore, specific knowledge of areas related to entrepreneurial tasks (e.g., industry and managerial experience) is more important for entrepreneurial success than general knowledge is (Unger et al 2011). Of particular importance is expertise, in the sense that Ericsson & Lehmann (1996) described it, as it leads to superior performance in entrepreneurship (Baron & Ensley 2006, Unger et al 2009). …”

Section: Cognitive Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. Similarly, active forms of learning in the sense of deliberate practice are related to entrepreneurial success (Unger et al 2009). …”

Section: A Framework For the Psychology Of Entrepreneurshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Psychology of Entrepreneurship

Fresé

Gielnik

2014

Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav.

Self Cite

631

490

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In this review of the psychology of entrepreneurship, we first present meta-analytic findings showing that personality dimensions, such as (general) self-efficacy and need for achievement, and entrepreneurial orientation are highly associated with entrepreneurship (business creation and business success). We then discuss constructs that were developed within entrepreneurship research, such as entrepreneurial alertness, business planning, financial capital as resources, and entrepreneurial orientation, and how they can be better understood by taking a psychological perspective. Next, we elaborate how traditional psychological constructs have been utilized in entrepreneurship and how this may enhance our knowledge in industrial and organizational psychology (with respect to, for example, knowledge, practical intelligence, cognitive biases, goals and visions, personal initiative, passion, and positive and negative affect). Finally, we provide an overall framework useful for the psychology of entrepreneurship, and implications for future research.

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“…A review of empirical studies on small businesses in South Africa reveals that studies are mostly qualitative typically reviewing changes in legislations and policies on enterprise development (Daniels 2004;Rogerson 2004;Rogerson 2008;McGrath 2005), describing characteristics of entrepreneurs (Rwigema & Karungu, 1999), & obstacles entrepreneurs face (Ladzani & Netswera, 2009;Lotz & Marais, 2007;Netswera 2010). When quantitative, studies seek to identify common attributes of obstacles faced by entrepreneurs often using factor analysis (Unger, Keith, Hilling, Gielnik & Frese, 2009;Olawale & Garwe, 2010;Nieman, Visser, & van Wyk 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What characterises high-growth firms in South Africa? Evidence from World Bank Enterprise Survey

Mthimkhulu

Aziakpono

2016

SAJBM

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In the past two decades, considerable efforts have been made to promote small and medium enterprises as a catalyst for job creation in many countries, including South Africa. However, globally a growing body of evidence shows that only a small segment of small and medium enterprises in an economy accounts for 50 to 70% of net new jobs. Using the World Bank Enterprise Survey and logit and quantile regressions, this paper empirically explores the characteristics of high growthfirms in South Africa. The study finds that firms that are less than 6 years create more jobs than the average firm in the sample. The results further suggest that the typical high-growth firms are black-owned.

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Deliberate practice among South African small business owners: Relationships with education, cognitive ability, knowledge, and success

Cited by 97 publications

References 90 publications

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

Cognitive Ability, Character Skills, and Learning to Play Equilibrium: A Level-kAnalysis

The Psychology of Entrepreneurship

What characterises high-growth firms in South Africa? Evidence from World Bank Enterprise Survey

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