Nicos Nicolaou’s research while affiliated with SECO/WARWICK and other places

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Publications (48)


Quantifying the impact of online social networks on the success of entrepreneurs
  • Preprint

September 2024

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10 Reads

Kyriacos Vitalis

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Dimosthenis Stefanidis

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[...]

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We leverage a rich online social network and entrepreneurial performance dataset to identify the effect of entrepreneurs’ social network activity on their professional success. We focus our analysis on ~79K founders of organizations listed in Crunchbase with an active personal Twitter account. We employ Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multiple linear regression, where the dependent variable is the founder’s career success indicator as extracted from Crunchbase, and the predictor variables are the social network presence and activity indicators as extracted from Twitter. We find that the founder’s average annual number of tweets is negatively associated with different success indicators, demonstrating a significant adverse impact of mere tweeting on success. To address endogeneity concerns, we implement panel data analysis with Fixed Effects (FE) and Instrumental Variables (IV) by the means of Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression, the results of which are largely consistent with those of OLS main analysis.



Empowerment Mitigates Gender Differences in Tertius Iungens Brokering

September 2022

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46 Reads

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5 Citations

Organization Science

Tertius iungens brokering that brings together people who might not otherwise meet is crucial for organizational effectiveness. But we know little about whether and why women and men differ in their propensity to engage in this brokering. Our paper focuses on the origins and mitigation of gender differences in the propensity to bring people together. In study 1, we showed that the Totterdell et al. (2008) propensity-to-join-others scale that we used in study 2 and the Obstfeld (2005) tertius iungens scale overlapped not only conceptually, but also empirically, and that these measures of tertius iungens were distinct from mediation- and separation-brokering propensities (Grosser et al. 2019). In study 2, we used a natural experiment to examine the tertius iungens brokering propensities of 876 identical and 625 fraternal same-sex twins. We found that brokering propensity was lower for women than for men, although the propensity toward sociability in terms of making friends and acquaintances was lower for men. We also found that for women, relative to men, tertius iungens brokering propensity was largely affected by environmental influences, such as the experience of stereotyping and discrimination, rather than representing an inherited disposition. Moreover, the differences between men and women with respect to brokering were mitigated for empowered samples, such as well-educated or entrepreneurial individuals. Our research asks new questions about how environmental pressures and empowerment affect social networking. Gender differences in brokering may be amenable to mitigation through empowering practices that include education and entrepreneurial experience.


What’s in a face? Facial appearance associated with emergence but not success in entrepreneurship

January 2022

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140 Reads

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11 Citations

The Leadership Quarterly

Facial appearance has been associated with leader selection in domains where effective leadership is considered crucial, such as politics, business and the military. Few studies, however, have so far explored associations between facial appearance and entrepreneurship, despite the growing expectation that societies project on entrepreneurs for providing exemplary leadership in activities leading to the creation of disruptive start-ups. By using computer vision tools and a large-scale sample of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs from Crunchbase, we investigate whether three geometrically based facial characteristics - facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), cheekbone prominence, and facial symmetry - as well as advanced statistical models of whole facial appearance, are associated with a) the likelihood of an individual to emerge as an entrepreneur and b) the performance of the company founded by that individual. We find that cheekbone prominence, facial symmetry and two whole facial appearance statistical models are associated with the likelihood of an individual to emerge as an entrepreneur. In contrast to entrepreneurship emergence, none of the examined facial characteristics are associated with performance. Overall, our results suggest that facial appearance is associated with the emergence of leaders in the entrepreneurial endeavor, however, it is not informative about their subsequent performance.


Tweet emotional comparison between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs for London (top), Los Angeles (middle) and worldwide (tweet level)
Tweet emotional comparison per weekday between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs for London (top), Los Angeles (middle) and worldwide (tweet level)
Tweet emotional comparison per calendar day between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs for London (top), Los Angeles (middle) and worldwide (tweet level)
Number of users, initial tweets, and usable tweets
Descriptive statistics and correlations for London data (N = 3,572)

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Exploring the sentiment of entrepreneurs on Twitter
  • Article
  • Full-text available

July 2021

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93 Reads

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5 Citations

Sentiment analysis is an evolving field of study that employs artificial intelligence techniques to identify the emotions and opinions expressed in a given text. Applying sentiment analysis to study the billions of messages that circulate in popular online social media platforms has raised numerous opportunities for exploring the emotional expressions of their users. In this paper we combine sentiment analysis with natural language processing and topic analysis techniques and conduct two different studies to examine whether engagement in entrepreneurship is associated with more positive emotions expressed on Twitter. In study 1, we investigate three samples with 6.717.308, 13.253.244, and 62.067.509 tweets respectively. We find that entrepreneurs express more positive emotions than non-entrepreneurs for most topics. We also find that social entrepreneurs express more positive emotions, and that serial entrepreneurs express less positive emotions than other entrepreneurs. In study 2, we use 21.491.962 tweets to explore 37.225 job-status changes by individuals who entered or quit entrepreneurship. We find that a job change to entrepreneurship is associated with a shift in the expression of emotions to more positive ones.

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The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship Research

November 2020

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1,339 Reads

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43 Citations

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

The past decade has experienced a significant increase in the number of papers on the biology of entrepreneurship. This trend is aligned with the general interest in the biology of management studies as evidenced by the more than 300 articles already published (Nofal et al., 2018). It illustrates the progression of science along two dimensions. First is the drive to seek smaller units of analyses to identify the core mechanisms of action. Second is the opposing drive to seek larger units of analyses to identify general principles. These simultaneous processes move our understanding of social and natural phenomena closer to a unified theory. In this editorial, we reflect on how the biology of why, how, what, when, and where of entrepreneurship represents a natural progression from the institutional, organizational, and psychological explanations. We call this the biological perspective in entrepreneurship (BPE), which is illustrated by the papers in this volume. We examine the key domains of inquiry, various methodologies, and reflect on the directions that future research should take.


Descriptive Statistics and Correlations
The Heritability of General Risk Preference
The Genetic Correlations Between the Risk Preferences and Choices
Within-Pair Correlations
Common genetic effects on risk-taking preferences and choices

December 2019

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283 Reads

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17 Citations

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty

Although prior research has shown that risk-taking preferences and choices are correlated across many domains, there is a dearth of research investigating whether these correlations are primarily the result of genetic or environmental factors. We examine the extent to which common genetic factors account for the association between general risk-taking preferences and domain-specific risk-taking preferences, and between general risk-taking preferences and risk taking choices in financial investments, stock market participation and business formation. Using data from 1898 monozygotic (MZ) and 1344 same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins, we find that general risk-taking shares a common genetic component with domain-specific risk-taking preferences and risk-taking choices.



Genetic distance and the difference in new firm entry between countries

July 2019

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106 Reads

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4 Citations

Journal of Evolutionary Economics

Does genetic distance between countries explain differences in the level of entrepreneurship between them? Genetic distance, or very long-term divergence in intergenerationally transmitted traits across populations, has been recently tied to a variety of outcomes ranging from differences in economic development to differences in risk preferences between countries. Extending this recent work, we ask whether the genetic distance between countries is associated with differences in new firm entry. Based on a sample of 103 countries and 5253 country-pair observations and controlling for a large variety of factors, we find that genetic distance is positively associated with between country differences in new firm entry. The effects sizes, as expected, are small. In assessing the differences in entrepreneurial activity between country-pairs, policymakers could consider adjusting for genetic distance as an explanation for differences in entrepreneurial activity.


Citations (40)


... We measured tertius iungens orientation with the six-item scale developed by Obstfeld (2005) and used in recent work (Lee et al., 2024;Nicolaou and Kilduff, 2023). The scale included items such as "I introduce people to each other who might have a common strategic work interest" and "I forge connections between different people dealing with a particular issue"; α =0.94. ...

Reference:

Simmelian brokerage, tertius iungens orientation, and idea elaboration
Empowerment Mitigates Gender Differences in Tertius Iungens Brokering
  • Citing Article
  • September 2022

Organization Science

... Despite the fact that some papers examined the relationship between the company's performance and managers' psychological traits, i. e., extraversion and dominance (Bebchuk, Cremers, Peyer, 2011;Chintrakarn et al., 2018;Green, Jame, Lock, 2019;Haleblian, Finkelstein, 1993), there is a paucity of analysis that would examine the infl uence of these characteristics on ICO valuation (Chitsazan, Bagheri, Tajeddin, 2022). Regarding the facial CEO characteristics in terms of their attractiveness, a few papers postulate the statistical signifi cance of these attributes on the cryptocurrency capital gain (Colombo et al., 2022;Momtaz, 2020), whereas (Stefanidis et al., 2022) showed the opposite effect on the fi rm value. Concerning these contradictory views and a lack of studies investigating the infl uence of a novel combination of upper echelons and facial characteristics on ICO valuation, the present paper addresses these issues. ...

What’s in a face? Facial appearance associated with emergence but not success in entrepreneurship
  • Citing Article
  • January 2022

The Leadership Quarterly

... O empreendedor é entendido como um indivíduo inovador, criador de mudanças, socialmente influente e intensificador de valor que age diante de um contexto de incertezas e riscos constantes (Subramani, 2020). Muitas vezes, escolhe o empreendedorismo por sentir que pode ter a liberdade de escolher seu ambiente de trabalho e seus próprios objetivos, pois essa liberdade traz ao empreendedor uma sensação de autonomia, que pode ser considerada psicologicamente benéfica (Waters et al., 2021). ...

Exploring the sentiment of entrepreneurs on Twitter

... Entrepreneurship relates to the activity of making money by starting or running businesses, especially when this involves taking financial risks. According to Shane et al. (2021), entrepreneurship is shown as a process that was identified as a particular characteristic controlling individuals' decision to become an entrepreneur. Besides, some studies confirmed leadership as one of the most necessary factors impacting entrepreneurship, so different kinds of leadership can encourage or discourage entrepreneurship (Ensley et al., 2006a, b). ...

The Biology of Entrepreneurship

... Han transcurrido más de cuatro décadas desde la primera publicación sobre el enfoque cognitivo del emprendimiento. Partiendo de la propuesta de Comegys (1976) se ha desarrollado un amplio debate sobre los estilos cognitivos de los emprendedores y la importancia de las estructuras mentales en la intención de implementar una iniciativa de negocios (Nicolaou et al., 2021;Zhang et al., 2020;Doanh, 2021). ...

The Biological Perspective in Entrepreneurship Research

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

... Последние, безусловно, способны дать необходимые знания о действиях предпринимателей, однако вряд ли могут дать уверенность в их результатах. Кроме того, толерантность к рискам также выступает важной психологической чертой предпринимателей, однако ее корни имеют, вероятно, генетическую природу (Nicolaou, Shane, 2019), а предпочтения избегания риска растут с возрастом (Sahm, 2012;Schildberg-Hörisch, 2018). Что касается предпринимательской алертности, то эта черта личности тесно связана с предпринимательством в целом, которое также имеет определенные генетические корни (Nicolaou et al., 2008;Nicolaou, Shane, 2009;Shane, Nicolaou, 2015), хотя такая ее составляющая как опознание возможностей связана также с умением решать проблемы (Dinh et al., 2021), которое, безусловно, в значительной мере научаемо. ...

Common genetic effects on risk-taking preferences and choices

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty

... Consistent mirroring of the entrepreneur's behaviours by other entrepreneurial actors can initiate the process of transforming capabilities of an individual entrepreneur into collective capabilities of an enterprise (Gilbert 2014). Thereafter, shared social experiences, and newly gained entrepreneurial identity stemming from an 'as-if-mode' of thinking and operating, can trigger neuroplasticity by establishing new neural pathways or modifying existing ones (Nicolaou et al. 2019). Moreover, entrepreneurial training and long-term experience in an enterprise can strengthen brain areas (such as inferior frontal gyrus and the left precentral gyrus), which are a part of the eMNS (Wu et al. 2020) and stimulate them to become more involved in imitating emotions, intentions, and actions of the entrepreneur. ...

Exploring the potential and limits of a neuroscientific approach to entrepreneurship
  • Citing Article
  • May 2019

International Small Business Journal Researching Entrepreneurship

... In addition, different genetic backgrounds can lead to systematic differences between countries regarding, among others, social, cultural, and institutional aspects (Guedes et al., 2019;Spolaore and Wacziarg, 2009), which are considered to provide arbitrage opportunities for multinational companies (Ambos and Hkanson, 2014). Doing business in foreign markets to gain arbitrage is the main reason motivating companies to enter the international market (Kogut, 1985). ...

Genetic distance and the difference in new firm entry between countries

Journal of Evolutionary Economics

... Interestingly, a growing body of research draws increased attention to the influence of dynamic factors, like the influence of dayto-day variations in moods and emotions on entrepreneurs' efforts (e.g., Baron, 2008;Delgado García et al., 2015;Foo et al., 2009). Moreover, a prominent interest is emerging for examining the impact of biological factors for entrepreneurship (Nicolaou et al., 2018a;Nicolaou et al., 2018b;Nofal et al., 2018;Shepherd and Patzelt, 2015;Wiklund et al., 2017). Combining both impetuses, a few scholars have begun investigating the physiological dynamics underpinning entrepreneurs' capabilities. ...

Call for papers: Special Issue on Biology and Entrepreneurship in Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice

... INVs that achieve superior performance idiosyncratically adopt this lever to increase growth and seize and exploit new opportunities (Han and Celly 2008;Lubatkin et al. 2006). The literature shows how the dual mode of expansion intrinsically reconnects the contextual tension to the innovation effort of the firm on its growth path, e.g., technological innovation, organizational learning, and local business adaptation (Benner and Tushman 2003;Siggelkow and Levinthal 2003;Koryak et al. 2018). ...

Disentangling the antecedents of ambidexterity: Exploration and exploitation

Research Policy