Entrepreneurs' Cognition and Perception of Risk and Ambiguity - Event-Related fMRI (fMRI)

Abstract:

This project seeks to disentangle whether entrepreneurs perceive or cognitively process risk and uncertainty differently than comparable others. We already know that entrepreneurs select into risky and uncertain settings more often than others. But we do not know if it is because they do not perceive the risk and uncertainty, whether they lower aversion against risk and uncertainty or if they over-confidently believe they are able to circumvent risk and uncertainty. Drawing on fMRI scans and neuroscience, we propose a project which runs experiments (Money Games) while tracking blood flows in sections of the brain which has been identified as those associated with risk and uncertainty. We subject a sample of entrepreneurs, a sample of serial entrepreneurs, and a sample of middle management to the experiment. By tracking the brain activity in these areas during scenarios characterized by risk and uncertainty, we seek to answer the above mentions research question.