Self-efficacy and cognition based perspective on entrepreneur’s decision and learning processes in nascent firm

From the perspective of self-efficacy and entrepreneur cognition, the paper combines the research of entrepreneurship and management cognition, aiming to the deep understanding of the role of self-efficacy on the formation of entrepreneur intention; the structure and process of entrepreneur cognition; and the development of cognition through the decision and learning processes in firm´s starting up stage. In the paper, we put forward nine propositions from which specific hypotheses can be developed to test the influence of ESE and entrepreneurial cognition in the venture creation decision, the relationship between ESE, entrepreneurial cognition, decision making and learning in the two periods of the entrepreneurial stage. It also explains the cognitive development among entrepreneurs through the learning processes influenced by ESE during the entrepreneurial stage. The paper has the potentially important impact on analyzing the relationship between ESE, entrepreneurial cognition and new venture creation.