Does Entrepreneurial Education Matter for the Performance of Medium-Sized Venture Entrepreneurs?

Richard Arend (), Ali Unal and Richard Bilodeau
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Richard Arend: Department of Business Administration, School of Business, College of Management and Human Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04103, USA
Ali Unal: Department of Business Administration, School of Business, College of Management and Human Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04103, USA
Richard Bilodeau: Department of Business Administration, School of Business, College of Management and Human Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04103, USA

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: We explore the question of whether entrepreneurial education matters for medium-sized venture performance. We do so to better understand the conflicting evidence indicating that, while such education appears to have significant positive micro-level effects, it has no significant macro-level effects. The growing investment in entrepreneurial education has increased intentions and start-up rates in treatment effects studies but has yet to make an impact on national start-up or survival rates. To address the contradiction, we apply a different empirical approach—one based on the capabilities view—where we survey venture entrepreneurs about their firm’s performance and their education in order to determine whether their skills-enhancing entrepreneurial training is or is not a key driver of success. We find that while that training significantly increases their confidence, when taken as a whole—as a multidimensional measure—that entrepreneurial education does not significantly influence venture performance. We discuss the implications for research, policy, and education.

Keywords: entrepreneurial education; real options value; medium-sized enterprises; capabilities view; survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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