The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Planning Profiles on Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Despite the attention paid by academics to the study of the determinants and growth consequences of entrepreneurs’ planning behavior, the convenience of engaging in planning activities is still an open debate in the entrepreneurship literature. In this paper, we analyze how institutional and firm level economic factors determine entrepreneurs’ planning behavior over time. We distinguish four different planning profiles and also analyze the implications of those profiles for new venture growth. Our analyses suggest that institutional and economic factors explain the different planning profiles, although the final effects seem to be more complex than anticipated, with non-planners being relatively more isolated from those forces than other entrepreneurs. In addition, planning activities relate positively to new venture growth.