Influence of the economic cycle on the determinants of nascent entrepreneurial activity. An empirical analysis of the Spanish case

This paper explores the contribution of a selection of elements representative of human capital and perception as determinants of entrepreneurship in different stages of the economic cycle. The results confirm the significance of self efficacy, the perception of opportunities, and the fear of failure, and highlight the importance of personal knowledge of entrepreneurs. They remain influential in different economic times in which their analyses have been replicated, although some differences are felt that point to, in contraction periods, a loss of influence of the confidence in one’s own abilities, compared to an increase in the case of judgment on the existence of opportunities in the environment, and in the case of the presence of entrepreneurs in the surrounding context. In contrast, the behavior of the fear of failure, as a barrier to entrepreneurship, remains unchanged in an adverse context with respect to a positive context due to reduced opportunity costs.