Management Summary Research Study “Breaking down entrepreneurial barriers: exploring the nexus of entrepreneurial behavior, innovation, and bank credit access through the lens of the theory of planned behavior”

The research examines the relationships between entrepreneurial behaviors, innovation performance, and bank credit access for 1367 enterprises across multiple European countries. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Resource-Based View (RBV), the research investigates how entrepreneurs’ personal attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms influence bank credit access, with innovation performance as a mediating factor.

Key findings:

1. Innovation performance fully mediates the relationships between personal attitude-credit access and subjective norm-credit access.

2. Direct impacts of personal attitude and subjective norm on bank finance are insignificant and negative, respectively.

3. Innovation performance plays a crucial role in linking entrepreneurial behaviors to credit access.

Business implications:

1. Develop training initiatives to foster innovative and entrepreneurial attitudes among firm executives.

2. Focus on improving innovation performance to enhance credit accessibility.

3. Consider cross-cultural differences when implementing strategies to improve credit access.

4. Recognize the importance of both tangible and intangible resources in securing bank credit.

5. Invest in R&D and innovative capabilities to signal creditworthiness to lenders.

These findings offer valuable insights for enhancing credit accessibility across diverse contexts and emphasize the importance of innovation in facilitating entrepreneurial success.

Target groups of stakeholders: SMEs and large enterprises in Europe, bank lenders, policymakers, entrepreneurship educators

Citation: Ključnikov, A., Civelek, M., Kupec, V., & Badie, N. B. (2024). Breaking down entrepreneurial barriers: exploring the nexus of entrepreneurial behavior, innovation, and bank credit access through the lens of the theory of planned behavior. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-024-01025-w

Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11365-024-01025-w