Impact of Founder Educational Attainment on Startup Performance in Early Stages : Exploring the Roles of Knowledge Inertia and Absorptive Capacity = 창업 초기 단계에서의 창업자의 교육성취도가 스타트업 성과에 미치는 영향: 지식 관성과 흡수 역량의 역할 탐구

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

To examine startup performance of Korean ventures, this study investigates how and under what conditions founder’s educational attainment might matter. Building on the theoretical understanding of startup growth stages, knowledge inertia, organizational learning and startup performance, this research empirically address this central question by developing an understanding of how founder’s educational attainment could improve or hinder startup performance of Korean ventures. This study also examines the influence of firm’s absorptive capacity to determine whether R&D intensity could constrain or enhance startup performance implications of founder’s educational attainment. Empirical results obtained from a sample of 2052 Korean ventures demonstrate that founder’s educational attainment can differentially affect Korean venture’s startup performances by providing positive and negative contributions for both sales and technology performances. This study also highlights the role of absorptive capacity as the moderating agent for startup performances. Specifically, the absorptive capacity was found to positively affect the contribution of founder’s educational attainment to startup’s sales performances in early stages, while showing no relationship to startup’s technology innovation. By contrast, absorptive capacity was found to negatively affect the contribution of founder’s educational attainment to sales performances for mature startups. This study draws meaningful contributions to the literature by introducing the idea of knowledge inertia and examining the roles of founder’s educational attainment and absorptive capacity in explaining startup performances of Korean ventures.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

창업자 교육성취도가 스타트업 성과에 미치는 영향을 심층적으로 조사한 본 연구는 창업성장단계, 지식 관성, 조직학습, 창업성과의 이론적 이해를 기반으로 수행되었다. 또한, 기업의 흡수 역량이 창업자의 교육성취도와 스타트업 성과 사이의 관계에 어떤 조절효과를 발휘하는지도 탐구하였다. 본 연구는 2019년 한국벤처기업 정밀실태조사에 참여한 2052개의 벤처기업 데이터를 분석하였으며, 최소차승법 및 음이항회귀분석을 방법론으로 채택하였다. 본 연구의 실증결과는 창업자의 교육성취도가 스타트업 성장단계에 따라 각각 긍정적 또는 부정적인 영향을 미침을 보여주었다. 또한, 초기 스타트업의 흡수역량은 창업자의 교육성취도와 영업실적 사이의 관계를 긍정적으로 조절하는 반면, 성숙기 스타트업에서는 부정적으로 조절하는 것으로 나타났다. 이 연구는 스타트업 성과의 이해를 높이기 위해 지식 관성을 도입하고 창업자의 교육성취도와 기업의 흡수역량의 역할을 탐구함으로써 의미있는 연구기여를 제공한다.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Table of Contents
• Ⅰ. Introduction................................................................................................. 1
• Ⅱ. Theoretical Framework............................................................................... 4
• 2.1 Startup Growth Stage ................................................................................. 4
• 2.1.1 Entrepreneurship stage......................................................................... 5
• 2.1.2 Early growth stage............................................................................... 7
• 2.1.3 High-growth stage ............................................................................... 8
• 2.1.4 Mature stage........................................................................................ 9
• 2.1.5 Decline stage .....................................................................................10
• 2.2 Human Capital in Startups........................................................................10
• 2.3 Knowledge Inertia....................................................................................12
• 2.4 Organizational Learning...........................................................................14
• 2.5 Startup Performance.................................................................................15
• 2.6 Absorptive Capacity.................................................................................16
• Ⅲ. Methodology ..............................................................................................19
• 3.1 Data and Sample ......................................................................................19
• 3.2 Variables and Measurements....................................................................20
• 3.2.1 Dependent variables ..........................................................................22
• 3.2.2 Independent variable..........................................................................22
• 3.2.3 Moderating variable...........................................................................23
• 3.2.4 Control variable.................................................................................24
• Ⅳ. Analysis and Empirical Results.................................................................27
• 4.1 Multicollinearity ......................................................................................27
• 4.2 Regression Models...................................................................................30
• 4.3 Empirical Results.....................................................................................33
• 4.4 Discussion of the Results .........................................................................35
• V. Conclusion...................................................................................................38
• Bibliography ....................................................................................................4