Stigma of Failure and the Levels of Entrepreneurial Activity: Some Moderating Effects

Collectivistic societies are generally understood to be less forgiving and more stigmatizing of failure and thus not conducive for entrepreneurial risk taking. However, environmental munificence can have important moderating impact on the relationship between culture, stigma and entrepreneurial risk taking. In this paper, it is shown that the impact of the stigma of failure on entrepreneurial risk taking can vary within and between cultures, depending on the munificence of the industry within which entrepreneurs pursue opportunities.