Can entrepreneurial role models alleviate the fear of entrepreneurial failure?

This paper analyses how entrepreneurial role models alleviate the fear of entrepreneurial failure among people who are not yet involved in entrepreneurial activities. The proposed hypothesis are tested using a logistic regression model relating the presence of entrepreneurial role models and fear of failure on a unique sample drawn from the Costa Rica Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the year 2014. The findings of the study reveal that the presence of entrepreneurial examples reduces the fear of failure among non-entrepreneurially active individuals. This study offers insights on how entrepreneurial examples contribute to shape relevant individual perceptions related to the fear of entrepreneurial failure, which constitutes an antecedent of entrepreneurship.