To support economic prosperity in Canada, we must obtain a better understanding of the factors and circumstances that lead to successful entrepreneurial activity. The ERA program thus seeks to provide an integrated investigation, through multiple points of view, of critical issues that relate to fostering successful entrepreneurship and innovation in Canada. The ERA program is managed by The W. Maurice Young Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research Centre, at the University of British Columbia and directed by Professor Raphael Amit. ERA teams are studying fundamental questions in five research arenas. Arena 1 research focuses on Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Decision Making .
Several projects deal specifically with the start-up decision.
One such project is devoted to understanding the role of motives, beliefs and opportunity costs of the entrepreneur. An important consideration in start-ups is the degree of innovation represented by the products or services being offered. To understand the role of creativity and innovation, it has been necessary to develop basic theories of creativity. These theories, as it turns out, are common to the realms of science, the arts and technology, as well as to business and can be used to frame questions about where business ideas come from. A simulation model is constructed, employing a variety of rules for initiating an investment, for holding off to collect more information, and for withdrawing from a poor start-up.