Finally, another important and unique aspect of the paper is
that the research investigated the mediating effects of risk-taking
propensity by examining the relationship between exogenous variables and risk. This is particularly important as it is not clear in the
literature whether the propensity to take risks is an exogenous variable, a mediator or a moderator. This research paper has shed some
light on the nature and the role of risk taking in an entrepreneurial
activity, namely business start up. It became apparent that risk taking propensity does not have mediating effects. There might be
several explanations for this. One of them is that the informant’s
motivation to engage in entrepreneurship may not be strictly financial prosperity.