Perception of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: Testing the Actor–Observer Bias

Abstract

Entrepreneurial ecosystem is the interacting socio-economic environment that facilitates entrepreneurs to start and develop their enterprises. A vibrant and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem is necessary for the start-up and growth of an enterprise. The entrepreneurial action would largely depend on the perception of entrepreneurs about the ecosystem. In this context, a study was designed to understand the perceptions of actors (entrepreneurs) and observers (non-entrepreneurs) on various components of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Data for this study were collected from 296 entrepreneurs and 315 non-entrepreneurs from India, who responded to a 77-item questionnaire by giving their ratings of various aspects of the ecosystem on a 5-point scale. Findings of the study showed that perceptions of the entrepreneurial ecosystem were significantly different for most of the subgroups. Most notable among these differences was those between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, where the mean scores on all dimensions were found to be significantly higher for non-entrepreneurs than for entrepreneurs except for entrepreneurial capability which was found to be higher for entrepreneurs. Hence, the hypothesis of actor–observer bias in the perceptions of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs is supported.