Entrepreneurial ties and innovativeness in the start-up decision

Do entrepreneurial ties increase innovativeness during the start-up process? Based on data collected from 45 countries and 7,067 nascent entrepreneurs, the authors' results indicate that knowing someone who has started a business within the last two years (entrepreneurial ties) has a significant impact on the intended level of innovativeness during the start-up process. Specifically, entrepreneurial ties have a positive impact on the expected level of competition, intended newness to customers, newness of technology and the intended level of exports and growth. This study contributes to the entrepreneurial network literature by changing the focus from the influence of ties on the start-up decision per se to their influence on the innovative nature of the start-up process.