Entrepreneurs and intertemporal decision making

This paper investigates the decision making behaviour of individuals with respect to attributes considered relevant to the assessment of potential venture opportunities. Using a decision making experiment, we were able to consider the behaviour of individuals taking into account their risk and time preferences. We find that while the respondent as a whole placed most weight on the potential payoffs when considering the value of a venture opportunity, we find significant individual differences in preference weightings across the attributes used in the study. By using a series of hypothetical venture vignettes, we also find some evidence that these differences in preference weightings may be useful in predicting choice behaviour in a more realistic entrepreneurial environment.