Stimulating entrepreneurship by introducing behavioural incentives. Propensity to use financial instruments in the context of decision makers' personal characteristics and their financial knowledge in Polish SMEs

Abstract

The problem of the business policy targeted at the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is its diversified efficiency. As a consequence, some of the applied instruments are used by beneficiaries on a very large scale, while other more complicated forms, including the ones dedicated to supporting innovation, enjoy much less interest among entrepreneurs. According to the observations of the support instrument market in Poland, one of the causes of the above-mentioned situation is the failure to adapt proposed instruments to the characteristics of SMEs, in particular ignoring the behavioural determinants in this group of businesses, including the behaviours based on another concept of economic rationality (different from the mainstream economics). Owing to empirical research, it has been possible to show that in Polish conditions choices made by decisions-makers in SMEs in specific conditions may be influenced by personal characteristics such as gender, education, seniority, experience, financial knowledge and age. It can be expected that some of the personal qualities of decision-makers will contribute to either the acceptance or rejection of specific types of influences, which in turn may aid in the better presentation and tailor-making of instruments offered to support SMEs. As a consequence, such instruments should be offered differently depending on a specific recipient profile. Having in mind the practical dimension of conducted research analyses, at the Department of Macroeconomics, Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk, Poland, the several series of research were developed in 2013-16 aimed at separating groups of decision-makers in Pomeranian Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that will be susceptible to specific (differentiated) behavioural stimuli.