Title: On the Performance and Financing of Nascent Entrepreneurs
Description: In this dissertation, three stand-alone studies are presented under a common theme: how do nascent entrepreneurs benefit from knowledge transfer? In the first study, I show that entrepreneurs reinforced their prudence by taking basic business training. Training reduced their financing, employment and business growth, but increased their profit. In the second study, entrepreneurs with high risk tolerance are found to operate larger businesses but suffer worse financial performance. Collectively, those two studies highlight the benefits of knowledge transfer in reinforcing discipline. The third study finds knowledge inherited from working at a prominent company helps entrepreneurs with managing their ventures. The benefits, however, diminish if the entrepreneurs deviate from the line of business that they used to work in.