Abstract
Early inquiries into the contribution of performance-based cultural norms to growth-oriented entrepreneurship render their influence not significant. In a similar effort to explain crosscountry differences in growth-oriented entrepreneurship, we propose and test a midrange, contingency-based model receiving strong support in analysis of 267 country-year observations from 66 countries. Results show economic development complements performance-based cultural norms to increase the extent of a country " s growth-oriented entrepreneurship; and this complementary effect appears only among those countries with high levels of regulatory simplicity. For policymakers targeting economic growth, our research suggests that policies should create a fertile environment for growth-oriented entrepreneurship to thrive on the established norms within their particular society; rather than benchmark possible approaches against other countries with high levels of growth-oriented entrepreneurship but very different established norms. We hope that our study captures the complexity of the impact of cultural norms on the levels of growth-oriented entrepreneurship among countries.