MY BUSINESS AND I: ENTREPRENEUR PERSONALITY TRAITS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE CHOICE

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose: This research seeks to identify how entrepreneurs’ personality traits can influence the capital structure of micro and small private businesses in Brazil, which are important for the economic growth and the subsistence of their owners. Originality/value: The study of the behavioral dimension of business decisions can help financial agents to better understand client behavior, including the adoption of mechanisms that identify possible risky or inefficient decisions made by managers based on their personality traits. It can also assist the government and institutions supporting micro and small private businesses in developing strategies to reduce the mortality of such companies. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed model involves 19 expected relationships that evaluate the relationships between the optimism, risk tolerance, sense of control (external and internal), attitude towards debt, and entrepreneur gender constructs. The sample includes 625 micro and small entrepreneurs in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed. Findings: Results showed that attitude towards debt and gender were the most significant constructs and had a direct influence on the capital structure, while optimism and internal locus of control exerted a negative indirect influence, while risk tolerance had a positive indirect effect. Female managers demonstrated higher optimism and internal locus of control than male managers, but they had a worse attitude towards debt.