The role of opportunity feasibility beliefs and bribery on resource acquisition speed and new venture emergence

Venture creation is an entrepreneurial process initiated by nascent entrepreneurs to identify and exploit opportunities. Beliefs of opportunity feasibility are found to facilitate new venture emergence in developed economy contexts. This paper examines how opportunity beliefs influence venture creation in an emerging economy context. The results of the Chinese Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics show that opportunity beliefs are negatively related to new venture emergence and the speed of resource acquisition, respectively. Further, entrepreneurs’ bribery behavior moderates the relationship between opportunity beliefs and the speed of resource acquisition. Our research provides important theoretical and policy implications for entrepreneurs and policy makers, especially in emerging economies.