Entrepreneurs Traits/Characteristics and Innovation Performance of Waste Recycling Start-Ups in Ghana: An Application of the Upper Echelons Theory among SEED Award Winners

Abstract

Waste management has become a pressing environmental, social, and economic issue. In Ghana, the government has decentralized the waste management system to include private sector actors as key players to improve the collection, disposal, and recycling of waste. With this development, a heterogeneous population of entrepreneurs has engaged in waste recycling, achieving mixed results in terms of performance. The aim of this paper is to identify shared personality traits and characteristics of entrepreneurs that make certain firms engage in waste recycling more innovatively than others. An extensive literature review was used to identify these personality traits and characteristics, which were then modeled using upper echelon theory (UET) to investigate their impact on innovation performance. A regression analysis approach was adopted based on the data collected from 157 entrepreneurs’ founders, co-founders, and shareholders among the waste recycling firms in Ghana selected for the annual Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Award competition. The key contribution of this research is to better understand the relationship between entrepreneur traits and innovation performance. Given the fact that in small start-ups, the founder plays the most important role, this paper serves as a foundation for defining individual-level factors critical in sustaining sustainable innovation performance in the waste recycling sector. The results of this study will help shareholders and policymakers better understand and implement strategies for determining and selecting innovative waste recycling entrepreneurs.

1. Introduction

Given the global imperative for environmental sustainability (ES) and the decentralization of the waste management system in most countries, entrepreneurship in waste recycling is on the rise [1]. The current boom is expected to be crucial to economic and social growth [2]. Previous studies [3,4] and recent ones [5,6] demonstrated that waste recycling is the solution to the continuing increase in waste production and resource depletion. Moreover, entrepreneurship in the waste management sector also contributes to diversified socio-economic infrastructures in the forms of employment creation, flexibility, and innovations [2]. Against the backdrop of low organization levels and irregular income streams that characterize firms of this sector, the subset of innovative entrepreneurs in waste recycling often transforms depressed economic regions through creativity [2], optimization of the entire value chain [7], and innovative resource employment [8]. Often, these efforts result in waste reduction and improved environmental benefits [9].

Yet, in developing countries such as Ghana, the environmental and economic contributions of waste recycling entrepreneurs are often overlooked or misunderstood as hindrances to efficient solid waste management (SWM) [1,10]. Nevertheless, the current award scheme competitions from organizations such as Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) celebrate the innovation of these local entrepreneurs to enhance creative innovation and competitive advantage. Among the few that have been celebrated for their distinguished innovation, nothing so far is known about whether there is a particular entrepreneurial profile that makes them and their firms more innovative. In this vein, an increasing number of studies have focused on the innovative entrepreneur, as innovativeness has been proven to be vital for a firm’s competitive advantage and long-term survival [11]. Especially, the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs have been investigated using multiple concepts and methods of analysis [12,13,14,15]. This is explained by the fact that these individual factors are regarded as critical to the entrepreneurial intention and can also impact firms’ innovation performance [8,15,16,17,18,19].

In an ideal world, entrepreneurship is conceptualized from a nexus of (1) individuals’ characteristics including personal traits and socioeconomic network and (2) knowledge-based, technology-driven, or research-driven opportunities [2]. All things being equal, an entrepreneur is an innovator, as his or her activity entails offering services or products that are different in some way from the ones that customers are used to [20]. However, in general, the term “entrepreneur” is not only applied to innovators but to a highly heterogeneous population [2]. While the entire group is associated with entrepreneurial activity, recent studies have often ignored the extraordinary degree to which these subpopulations vary in their behavior [21] and how individuals’ personality traits can differ greatly depending on the type of entrepreneurial operation [22], innovation [23], and performance results [24]. For example, multiple cohort studies investigating the relationship between recycling firm innovation and entrepreneur characteristics have discovered that the latter have a major effect on innovation [15,24,25,26]. Additionally, specific personal traits have been associated with prompting people to become entrepreneurs in waste management [27], as well as personal motivations [8] and preferences that keep entrepreneurs on their chosen path [28]. Interestingly, according to Henrekson and Sanandaji [29], unless tougher measures of more competitive entrepreneurship, such as incorporated entrepreneurs [30], creative and high-growth entrepreneurs [3], or venture-capital-(VC)-backed or even billionaire entrepreneurs [31], are added, the relationship between a country’s proportion of entrepreneurs and GDP per capita remains negative. One of the most important implications of this finding is that different types of entrepreneurs are supposed to contribute to economic growth in different ways [17]. Thus, distinguishing the majority of new entrepreneurs in waste recycling from those few innovative ones that create benefits for society is of great importance, especially in developing countries where among jobs available in the informal sector, waste recycling is frequently the first point of entry as well as the last resort. Namely, entrepreneurial characteristics play a key role in encouraging and sustaining innovation-based entrepreneurship in waste recycling, which in turn contributes to regional economic growth and development.

In most previous studies, the common method to study factors that impact conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship in economic systems has been based on the national system of innovation (NSI) framework [32]. This framework put emphasis on the role of institutions [29], environmental factors [2], and public policy [3,33] on entrepreneurship. While these factors shape firms’ behaviors such as their entrepreneurial activities [34] and intention into entrepreneurship [35], it has been argued that the NSI literature still has a poor understanding of the individual entrepreneur. For instance, there is some incompatibility between two perspectives, such as the person-centric view of entrepreneurship and the issue of macro-level analysis [34]. Additionally, innovation research that is based on the Oslo Manual paradigm fails to control for entrepreneurial characteristics, because these dimensions are not covered in the surveys [36]. Meanwhile, every company is unique in terms of the top managers team (TMT) decision-makers’ cognitive perceptions and expectations about the future, alternatives, and the implications of each choice [37]. As a result, the condition that fosters creative entrepreneurship should take into account the entrepreneur’s cognitive perspective when making decisions about opportunity assessment, venture development, and the efficient growth of new venture formation [12]. This is particularly true in small businesses like waste recycling start-ups, where the founder is usually closer to the decision-making process, and therefore his or her attitude, motivations, expertise, and attitudes are likely to have a greater impact on the firm’s structure, management, and efficiency.

Theoretically, Hambrick and Mason’s [38] upper echelons theory (UET) has been recognized as one of the most important perspectives to explain the impact of the entrepreneur’s traits and characteristics on a firm’s performance [38]. Strategic choices, according to the theory, are dictated and influenced by the values and cognitive bases of the organization’s dominant/powerful coalition/actors, especially the TMT [38,39]. Based on this assumption, entrepreneurs’ characteristics and experiences influence their perceptions, choices, and actions in ways that eventually impact a variety of firm results such as firm actions and performance [40,41]. In developing countries such as Ghana, this theoretical perspective might be the most important way to better understand the mixed performance outcomes of firms within the waste management sectors. For instance, among the heterogeneous population of entrepreneurs active in solid waste collection recovery and recycling, we have, on the one hand, some enterprises characterized by low entry barriers, low organization levels, and irregular income streams [1,42,43]. On the other hand, some entrepreneurs have demonstrated great potential through creativity [44]. In the Ghanaian context, decisions are often left to the founder entrepreneurs, who, in collaboration with a few other key shareholders (co-founders and shareholders), will leverage the potentials of established theories to place and reposition the organization’s future strategic choices. So far, Ghanaian entrepreneurs have extrapolated results from international scholarships as if the two worlds are identical. However, given the critical role of innovative entrepreneurship in economic development and the apparent scarcity of local scholarly inquiries that provide guidance for effective waste recycling entrepreneurship in the midst of an entrepreneurial boom, this type of research is essential. Therefore, despite some minor variations, the main goal of this paper was to reproduce, among other things, the work of Hambrick and Mason [39], respond to the criticisms raised by Bret et al. [38], and supplement their findings with Ghanaian experience by revealing the impact of observed demographic variables on entrepreneur results.

To achieve this objective, we selected 14 start-up firms in waste management in Ghana that have been championed by the SEED award. The award is an annual international program that recognizes the most creative and promising locally driven start-up eco-inclusive enterprises in developed and emerging economies. Each SEED winner is selected by an independent international jury based on the enterprise’s potential to scale up their contributions to poverty eradication and environmental sustainability while leading the transition to a green economy. In our study, these entrepreneurs represent the subset of innovative entrepreneurs in the waste recycling sector. According to the literature, entrepreneurial behavior is an unintentional determinant of firm success, and variables that influence the behavior can have a direct impact on the performance induced by the behavior [12,45]. Thus, we posit that the entrepreneurial characteristics are expected to exert influence over firm performance, particularly over firm innovation performance. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to identify the prominent personality traits and characteristic drivers among selected SEED award winners that lead to innovative performance through the leans of UET. We propose that the psychological and demographic features of a firm’s founder may be used to forecast the firm’s decisions and outcomes. Specifically, we focused on clarifying the role of various individual characteristics for start-ups in waste recycling to survive and achieve impressive innovation performance. We concentrated on the position of entrepreneurs as founders, co-founders, and shareholders from this perspective, because they are considered vital to the innovation process [2,46,47] and they make strategic business investment, project selection, and resource allocation decisions [19]. We examined how the demographic variables of gender, age, experience, and education and the cognitive characteristics of locus of control, self-efficacy, risk-taking, and curiosity propensity influence firm innovation performance in the context of Ghanaian waste recycling entrepreneurs. Based on a review of the literature, this study presents a research model and tests of the model using a multiple regression analysis model with individual-level data from founders, co-founders, and shareholders of Ghanaian recycling companies nominated for the SEED award from 2010 to 2019.

2. Literature Review and Conceptional Framework

2.1. Conceptional Framework

Within any organization, the “levers of power are uniquely concentrated in the hands of the CEO” [48], especially in the case of small businesses, where the entrepreneur is usually more involved in the decision-making process. In most start-ups, there is no real distinction between the positions of CEO and the other managerial positions, as the entrepreneur (founder and co-founder) generally runs these positions to cut down payroll expenses. Empirically, studies and reviews have supported that the CEO/entrepreneur’s characteristics are associated with organizational outcomes [49,50]. According to upper echelon theory, it is the power bestowed upon the CEO that gives him or her the possibility and arguably the responsibility to steer the company in the right direction [39]. Subsequently, the resultant innovation performance is often the key to assessing the quality and realization of such strategies.

Innovation performance is described as the firm’s willingness to actively promote innovative ideas, novelty, experimentation, and innovative problem-solving [51]. Following with the UET, well-documented studies in the management field (e.g., strategy, finance, marketing) have investigated the major factors that determine the innovative performance of a business venture [39,52]. These factors can be divided into two categories including internal and external factors. The first internal factors can be the entrepreneur’s personality traits, which affect the choices and, thus, the organizational performance [39]. Among these traits, we consider the entrepreneur’s self-efficacy, locus of control, risk attitude, and curiosity to be influential. Second, the demographic variables are also important [39]. This includes age, education, and gender. Third, we include experience, because it portrays many of the background characteristics that the CEO brings to bear on judgment and decisions that impact the firm’s strategy. As external factors, we include perceived support of public policy and public policy instability, which make our conceptual framework a comprehensive framework capturing the internal and external factors likely to influence the entrepreneur’s decision making. Piecing this together, Figure 1 illustrates our research model by showing the link between internal and external factors and innovative performance.

2.2. Entrepreneurs’ Personality

A rapidly increasing body of research associates entrepreneur personality traits with firm innovation performance.

2.2.1. Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is described as a person’s belief in their ability to perform a task and achieve its goal. Self-efficacy is an important characteristic for entrepreneurs, because it increases the incentive to pursue personal goals and the desire to develop new knowledge, which promotes innovation [53]. Recent studies suggest that a high level of self-efficacy relates to work performance [54], small business development [55], academic achievements [56], and career choice [57]. Furthermore, research findings posit that entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy is positively related to innovation [58]. For example, in a longitudinal study, the authors of [59] confirm that those with high entrepreneurial self-efficacy are more likely to become nascent entrepreneurs and achieve high innovative performance. Literature also shows that a high-self-efficacy individual can be over-optimistic in estimating the probable future returns and underrate the likelihood of failure from uncertain activities, because they tend to overestimate their own ability to control situations and make optimal decisions [60,61]. It follows that high-self-efficacy entrepreneurs are more willing to initiate innovation-related activities and deliver better performance. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 1 (H1).

Self-efficacy has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.2.2. Locus of Control

While an entrepreneur’s self-efficacy tends to increase the firm’s innovation, it may not be sufficient for successful innovation performance. The motivation view of self-efficacy is complemented by the cognitive perspective of locus of control (LOC). A survey of 178 entrepreneurs showed that successful innovators have a high internal LOC, which convinces them that they can impact results through their own ability, effort, or skills instead of leaving external circumstances to control these results [62,63]. Findings also associated LOC with engaging and succeeding in entrepreneurship activities [64]. For instance, internal LOC is positively correlated with venture size and growth rates according to a survey of 168 Chinese entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore [65]. Furthermore, extant research has shown that people with internal LOC are open to new experiences, possess the ability to handle changing conditions, and dislike structured and repetitive situations [66]. According to the findings of [67], entrepreneurs with high internal LOC produce more innovation outcomes in terms of patents and associated citations. Overall, the LOC personality trait has a lot of support and is fairly consistent across different types of entrepreneurs. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 2 (H2).

Internal locus of control has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.2.3. Risk Attitude

Individuals with a risk-taking attitude can change their behavior in a variety of ways, which can influence their decisions and actions as entrepreneurs later in life. Although psychology literature indicates that risk preferences [68], risk tolerance [69], risk aversion [70], and risk propensity [71] can be associated with excessive optimism [72], a few recent studies [73,74] found that entrepreneurs with a risk attitude impact entrepreneurial outcome. For example, in their study of 178 entrepreneurs operating Italian manufacturing firms in 2007, the authors of [68] discovered that firms run by risk-loving entrepreneurs perform better. The authors compared companies that produce new products to companies that do not. Risk attitudes were gauged using a fictitious lottery query, which was then compared to product portfolios and other financial data at the firm level. A parallel study of risk-averse and risk-loving entrepreneurs found that the launch of a new product had a positive (and significant) impact on firm growth only in the sample of firms owned by risk-loving individuals. Entrepreneurs who like taking risks are more likely to introduce new products in the first place, implying that this personality trait will help companies develop through innovation. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 3 (H3).

Risk attitude has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.2.4. Entrepreneurs’ Curiosity

Many studies have looked into the relationship between an entrepreneur’s curiosity and organization outcomes [75]. Curiosity is the main driver of innovativeness, as it helps to develop an innovative way to fulfill a need or produce an opportunity. Accordingly, the authors of [76] found that curious entrepreneurs have the ability to “think out of the box”, which contributes to collaborative links between the entrepreneur and their environment, including participation in inter-organizational relationships and networks. A curious entrepreneur is constantly on the lookout for new ideas, employing open quest techniques that enlist the assistance of a variety of external players and sources in order to achieve and maintain innovation. Research findings have related entrepreneurs’ curiosity to a striving toward knowledge and novel business approaches [77]. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 4 (H4).

Entrepreneurs’ curiosity has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.3. Entrepreneurs’ Demographics

For demographics characteristics, we emphasize entrepreneurs’ age, education, and gender.

2.3.1. Age

Age is a good determinant for a person’s experience. Previous studies have explored the relationship between the entrepreneur’s age and the firm’s innovation performance [45,78]. Findings suggest a general consensus that an entrepreneur’s age is negatively associated with innovation [72,78,79]. For instance, Jeraf [72] found that younger entrepreneurs spend more on research and development compared to older ones. This may be explained by the fact that younger entrepreneurs intend to show their superior capability to the market by pursuing aggressive investment in innovation. In contrast, older entrepreneurs might be much more concerned with the financial stability of their initiative and therefore less willing to engage in new ideas for innovation. Additionally, they are less likely to seek growth through innovation strategies in an effort to seize perceived opportunities. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 5 (H5).

Age has a significant and negative effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.3.2. Education

The education level of the entrepreneurs is also an important source of skills, knowledge, networks, and problem-solving ability, and it is considered a key aspect of entrepreneurial success. The level of education, that is, the amount of formal schooling, type of education, and quality of education, is the significant determinant of the entrepreneurs’ educational background, and it is associated with firm performance. Findings from related studies posit that firms owned by more educated entrepreneurs have a higher probability of innovating [15,29,80]. For instance, [50] found a positive link between an entrepreneur’s level of education and the number of new/improved products/registered patents. They argue that entrepreneurs with more education have greater cognitive complexity, meaning they are better able to acquire and interpret complex knowledge and make quicker decisions. However, entrepreneurship requires a combination of multiple skills, meaning that individuals with a diverse set of skills are more likely to succeed as entrepreneurs than those who specialize in a single field. Thus, a higher educational level is predicted to be more conducive to innovation only up to some level. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 6 (H6).

Education has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.3.3. Gender

Women are less likely than men to start a company, and this disparity has remained consistent for several decades. Some industries, such as services and sales, have a high percentage of female entrepreneurs, while others, such as construction, have a low percentage. Related to the association of gender with innovation performance, recent studies’ findings report mixed results. On the one hand, female entrepreneurs are positively associated with innovation [81]. On the other hand, innovation is more prevalent among men [82]. Women, for example, prefer to specialize in business sectors where innovation is less widespread, according to [83]. Women-owned businesses have less innovation scope and depth than men-owned businesses [82]. On the positive side, female managers can significantly promote firms’ technological innovation [81], and gender diversity can facilitate a high level of creativity and innovation. This is due to the fact that females can offer more detailed information analysis to TMTs and provide businesses with a variety of perspectives and problem-solving methods. Women, on average, have stronger skills than men in promoting the exchange of ideas and information, resolving disputes, responding to change, and empowering and encouraging others, all of which are vital to creativity, according to empirical studies [84,85]. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 7 (H7).

Gender has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.3.4. Entrepreneurs’ Experience

Findings indicate that entrepreneurs’ experience may be one of the first major factors that make the difference between firms’ innovativeness [13,26]. It is suggested that entrepreneurs who have accumulated experience through previous business ownership or failed businesses may have acquired understanding and expertise required to identify a better opportunity. They have the ability to integrate apparently unrelated information that a novice cannot grasp and potentially implement more innovative opportunities. However, experience can also become path dependent, and a lock-in effect might take place. According to [86], path dependence on previous experience can come with biases in decision making, because the entrepreneur might have the impression of knowing it all, making decisions based on limited information, becoming constrained by the familiar and becoming overconfident. Consequently, it will be challenging for the entrepreneurs to find new opportunities. Eventually, their innovativeness will be affected by this path dependency on prior experience, and the firm will become less innovative as well. The seemingly inverted relationship is between prior business ownership and opportunity identification but not with the innovativeness of the last opportunity found, meaning that experience may affect opportunity identification but not the innovativeness of an already generated opportunity. Furthermore, former employee tenure positions can be considered as useful experience for conducting an innovative business. It is assumed that, through their tenure, the formal employee may have acquired tacit knowledge about the industry and accumulated some relevant social capital important for the new venture business. According to [87], being a former employee of a well-established company is a great source of entrepreneurship. According to [86], prior work experience of the entrepreneurs is a significant determinant of innovation in small firms irrespective of the sector in which the experience was obtained. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypothesis has been generated:

Hypothesis 8 (H8).

Entrepreneurs’ experience has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

2.4. External Factors

Public policy is directly under the control of the government, and thus it is critical in directing entrepreneurs’ behavior. Policies are generally implemented in the form of regulations through which the government regulates the actions and the economic activity of individuals and firms [88]. The ability to create a favorable business climate is a prerequisite for entrepreneurship’s purpose and development [3]. Several studies have shown that long-term entrepreneurial support policies and different aspects of firm innovation have a favorable relationship [89]. For example, Patanakul and Pinto [90] found that by providing fiscal incentives, tax credits, and easily accessible information, government and public policy can foster favorable cultures that can build an entrepreneurial atmosphere and encourage firms’ willingness to change, thereby fostering innovation. In Ghana, government support programs such as managerial and technical training have been found to drive innovation among SMEs [43]. Moreover, government seed grant and startup money through direct support payment or nonmonetary grants has encouraged entrepreneurs’ innovation capacity, which eventually promotes entrepreneurial innovation performance.

In contrast, instability of government policies resulting from frequent changes in government policies can negatively affect entrepreneurship’s activities and hence entrepreneurship innovation performance. In Ghana, unstable government policies have led to the bankruptcy of many firms, as these recurrent policy changes by the government influence the interest rate. In the same vein, the findings of Quartey [91] linked the government’s uncertain policy climate to high inflation rates, which result in regular price increases, affecting consumers’ and entrepreneurs’ buying power. According to research, an unstable policy climate will lead to a depreciation of the local currency, increasing the cost of importing and exporting. Fiestas and Sinha [92] theorized that insecure government policies could increase the likelihood of businesses failing and experiencing low growth. On the basis of the research goals and a systematic analysis of literature, the following hypotheses have been generated:

Hypothesis 9 (H9).

Perceived government support has a significant and positive effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

Hypothesis 10 (H10).

Perceived government policy instability has a significant and negative effect on waste recycling firms’ innovation performance.

3. Methodology and Measurement

3.1. Data and Sample

We analyzed waste recycling innovative enterprise’s founders, co-founders, and shareholders from Ghana based on individual-level data gathered using a structured survey questionnaire. The waste recycling (small and medium businesses) SMBs were selected according to the finalists of the SEED award nomination from the year 2010 to 2019. The SEED Award for Sustainable Development Entrepreneurship is an annual international awards program that seeks to recognize the most creative and promising locally driven start-up eco-inclusive enterprises in developed and emerging economies. The survey was designed to collect personal trait and characteristic information about the founders, co-founders, and shareholders of the nominated waste recycling SMBs from Ghana based on their innovation performance accredited by the SEED award competition. The sample includes all waste recycling companies who reach the finals of the competition. The original data from the SEED award competitions of individual start-ups from Ghana includes 30 waste recycling companies. After excluding community-held projects and startups with untraceable founders, we used a sample of 153 founders, co-founders, and shareholders from 14 waste recycling SMBs for analysis. We focused on founders, co-founders, and shareholders whose profiles could be traced on social media, because the survey was performed online, and part of the information related to them was collected from the company’s website, personal profile on Facebook, and Linkedin.com.

3.2. Measurement of the Constructs

This study uses a multiple regression analysis to investigate the effect of founders’, co-founders’, and shareholders’ personal traits and characteristics on innovation performance of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in waste recycling in Ghana. The constructs were mostly adopted from previous research and tweaked for use in an innovation environment. Firstly, innovation performance, the dependent variable, was estimated according to the SEED Award selection, that is, a company’s willingness to actively promote innovative concepts, experimentation, and creative solutions. In the literature, Schumpeter [2,7] referred to the term “innovation” as “anything that was carried out through new combinations and manifestation of (1) the introduction of a new (or improved) good, (2) the introduction of new methods of production, (3) the opening of a new market, (4) the exploitation of a new source of supply and (5) the re-engineering/organization of business management processes” [7]. Innovativeness is described as the widespread acceptance within an organization of novel creations and new goods, facilities, processes, administrative structures, or any combination of these that affect overall firm efficiency [51]. As a result, innovation performance encompasses the generation of new ideas for challenging problems, the discovery of new working methods, strategies, innovations, or instruments, the identification of performance holes, the mobilization of resources for innovative ideas, and the conversion of innovative ideas into useful implementations [93,94].

Both subjective and quantitative metrics may be used to evaluate a company’s innovation success. Subjective tests are most widely used by new projects, because objective measures can be difficult to interpret and are less vulnerable to standard practice bias. Subjective measures, on the other hand, have shown high reliability and validity [19]. Three criteria from the SEED Award selection criteria were used in this analysis. Item one, “the company demonstrates entrepreneurship and innovation”, reflects that the company has achieved a significant contribution to innovation and a satisfactory performance during the year. Item two, “having the potential to scale up and or be replicated in other contexts”, reflects the potential of company growth. Item three, “having the intention and potential to become financially sustainable”, reflects the sustainability of the company, which reflects its continued innovation performance.

Secondly, the independent variables, sex, age, experience, and education of the entrepreneur, were among the demographics of the respondents. The age, gender, and education level were identified from the entrepreneur’s profile on Linkedin.com. Educational levels of entrepreneurs were categorized as up to diploma level and degree and above, and were coded (0 = Otherwise, 1 = having). The gender of the entrepreneurs was also coded as male (0 = Otherwise, 1 = Male) and female (0 = Otherwise, 1 = Female). Age and entrepreneurial experience were measured as continuous variables. The research’s other independent variables all focused on the study constructs. All of the constructs were rated on a five-point Likert scale, with 5 denoting strong agreement, 4 denoting agreement, 3 denoting neutrality, 2 denoting disagreement, and 1 denoting strong disagreement (strongly disagree). The construct of self-efficacy was measured using a general self-efficacy scale developed by Schwarzer et al. [77]. To assess and recognize self-efficacy values, this scale was composed of ten items adapted from Khedhaouria et al. [9]. “I can still manage to solve tough problems if I try hard enough” and “no matter what comes my way, I’m always able to handle it” are two examples of self-efficacy products. The locus of control of behavior scale [78] was used to assess the construct of internal locus of control. This scale consists of 16 items that assess how much a person believes behaviors are a result of their conduct. When an activity is due to personal efforts, it is considered an internal control. “When I make plans, I’m almost confident that I’ll be able to make them work”, for example, is one of the items. A five-item instrument was adapted to calculate the build of entrepreneur curiosity [7]. Hermans [79] introduced the scale, which was also discussed in the literature by McClelland [38] and later in 1987. The scale adapted from Khedhaouria et al. [9] was used to assess entrepreneurial risk attitude. This scale was developed by Covin and Wales [58] based on the three dimensions of entrepreneurial behavior: risk taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness. Each dimension had three things to quantify actions in this analysis. The following control variables were used in the study: family support, with and without prior entrepreneur experience, coded as (0 = Otherwise, 1 = Yes).

3.3. Validity and Reliability

The constructs’ validity and reliability were examined in order to determine the precision of their measurement capacity. The validity of the research variables had already been established in previous studies [45,66], but we double-checked it with an 18-person pilot survey to eliminate any anomalies or ambiguities before the actual survey. The questions were administered during the opening of the Green Corporation Star award at the plush Kempinski Hotel in Accra Ghana. The reliability of constructs was measured by the Cronbach’s alpha. The reliability test and internal consistency carried out on items leading to self-efficacy, curiosity, risk attitude, and locus of control all showed Cronbach’s alpha $>0.7,$ indicating all items led the construct to reach acceptable reliability [94].

4. Empirical Study

4.1. Analysis

The SPSS Version 23 (SPSS IBM, NY, USA) was used to analyze the data. Given that the extent of waste recycling firm innovation performance is influenced by entrepreneurs’ idiosyncrasies, gender (X1), age (X2), work experience (X3), education (X4), locus of control (X5), curiosity (X6), risk attitude (X7), self-efficacy (X8), perceived public policy support (X9), and perceived public policy instability (X10),

Yi = a + b(X1) + b2(X2) + b3(X3) + b4(X4) + b5(X5) + b6(X6) + b7(X7) + b8(X8) + b9(X9) + b10(X10) + ei

where

ei = error term for regression coefficient equation for ith observation

a = intercept coefficient; b1, b2, b3, b4, b5 b6, b7, b8, b9, b10 = respective slope coefficient for independent variables X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10.

Yi = innovation performance

In order to identify the relationship between demographic characteristics, entrepreneurial personality traits, and perceived support of public policy on innovation performance, first, we test for collinearity. We perform a multicollinearity test using variance inflation factors (VIFs). Variance inflation factors (VIF) for all variables were tested to detect the absence of multicollinearity among continuous variables, indicating independent impacts of each variable. The results show that all variables’ variance inflation factors (VIF) are below the threshold value of 10, indicating that multicollinearity is not a concern among independent variables. Next, the correlation method was employed, and the result is shown in

Table 1. Correlation analysis.

Variables	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Innovation Performance	1
Male	0.0074	1
Female	0.0565	−0.8119 *	1
Age	0.1827 *	0.0609	−0.0473	1
Work Experience	0.2647 *	−0.049	0.1081	0.0906	1
Degree and above	0.3497 *	−0.2299	0.2744 *	0.0801	0.0906	1
Up to diploma	0.0019	0.2108	−0.2383	0.0554	0.0163	−0.6882	1
Locus of control	0.3835	−0.0941	0.0935	0.09	0.2542	0.2813	−0.1014	1
Entrepreneurial Curiosity	0.5314	−0.1418	0.1732	0.0824	0.163	0.3023	0.0551	0.2984	1
Risk Attitude	0.2221	−0.1368	0.137	0.0758	0.0634	0.1636	−0.0308	0.4411	0.3119	1
Self-efficacy	0.689	−0.0706	0.0471	0.1397	0.0575	0.3763	−0.1634	0.2499	0.4857	0.1263	1
Perceived Public Policy Sup	0.433	−0.0046	−0.0686	0.0548	−0.1272	0.2892	0.0892	0.1369	0.3106	0.1498	0.4377	1
Perceived Public Policy Inst	−0.3679	0.0706	0.0375	−0.0462	0.079	−0.2293	−0.0559	−0.2123	−0.2512	−0.0608	−0.329	−0.8029	1

* Correlation coefficients are significant at 5% level.

. Table 1 shows the correlation matrix for all variables indicating a direct relationship between demographic variables, personality traits of entrepreneurs, perceived public support, and innovative performance, except for perceived public policy instability, which shows a significant inverse relation with innovative performance. The correlation matrix tested at a 5% significant level indicated that demographic characteristics age (0.1827 *), work experience (0.2679 *), and degree and above (0.3497 *) have a positive significance relation with innovative performance. The matrix further indicated that entrepreneurs’ personality traits, locus of control (0.3835 *), curiosity (0.5314 *), risk attitude (0.2221 *), and self-efficacy (0.6890 *) have a positive significance relation with innovative performance. This shows that as entrepreneurs’ personality traits increase, the innovative performance of recycling start-ups in Ghana improves upwardly. Perceived public policy support (0.4330 *) has a positive significant relation, while perceived public policy instability (−0.2678 *) has a negative significant relation with innovative performance.

4.2. Regression Analysis

In assessing the effects of the key explanatory variables for the dependent variable, multiple regressions were performed to assess the impact of the independent variables of demographic characteristics, entrepreneurs’ personality traits, and perceived public support on innovation performance. A progressive enter method was used. Thus, for each group of variables, a separate regression coefficient describes its relationship with the firm innovation performance. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyze the interactive relationship between each group of variables and firm innovation performance.

4.2.1. Regression Model 1 (Control Variables)

Model 1 in

Table 2. Regression analysis.

	MODEL 1				MODEL 2				MODEL 3
VARIABLES	β	SE	T	Sig	β	SE	t	Sig	β	SE	t	Sig
Family Support	0.357	0.1528	2.34	0.021	0.315	0.1068	2.96	0.004	0.306	0.1057	2.9	0.004
Previous Exp. (Yes)	0.158	0.1604	0.99	0.324	0.045	0.1107	0.41	0.685	0.029	0.1097	0.27	0.79
Previous Exp. (No)	−0.187	0.147	−1.27	0.204	−0.13	0.0975	−1.31	0.185	−0.106	0.097	−1.1	0.275
Male					0.036	0.1938	0.19	0.852	0.073	0.1924	0.38	0.705
Female					0.022	0.208	0.11	0.915	0.051	0.206	0.25	0.805
Age					0.002	0.0043	0.41	0.68	0.001	0.004	0.22	0.826
Work Experience					0.382	0.0101	3.22	0.002	0.026	0.0105	2.46	0.015
Degree and Above					0.143	0.195	0.74	0.464	0.009	0.2035	0.04	0.966
Up to Diploma Level					0.127	0.193	0.66	0.512	0.165	0.1917	0.86	0.391
Locus of Control					0.125	0.0607	2.05	0.042	0.144	0.0608	2.37	0.019
Entrepreneur Curiosity					0.13	0.6079	2.09	0.038	0.124	0.0617	2.01	0.046
Risk Attitude					0.044	0.0601	0.75	0.457	0.029	0.0599	0.5	0.617
Self-Efficacy					0.831	0.111	7.49	0	0.854	0.1103	7.75	0.017
Perceived Public policy Supp					0.192	0.2245	0.85	0.395	0.138	0.2235	0.62	0.539
Perceived Public policy Instab					−0.119	0.1794	−0.67	0.505	−0.147	0.1718	−0.83	0.407
Degree above *Available Tech									0.018	0.008	2.05	0.042
Adjusted R-Square	0.0398				0.6078				0.6168
Over all F-statistics	0.0291				0				0
Effect of independent Variables	-				0.568

, including only control variables, is statistically significant only if $p<0.05$ for family support ($\beta =0.357$, $p\_value=0.021$) has a positive statistically significant influence on innovative performance, with previous experience ($\beta =0.158, p\_value=0.324$) having a positive non-statistically significant influence on innovative performance, and a lack of previous experience ($\beta =-0.187,p\_value=0.204$) having a negative non-statistically significant influence on innovative performance. The adjusted R-square value is 0.0398, indicating 3.98% of variation of innovative performance is explained by the control variables. The overall F-statistic $=0.0291<0.05$ indicating the combined effect of control variables is statistically significant.

4.2.2. Regression Model 2 (Control Variables and all Independent Variables)

A regression model was used to determine the significant effect of demographic variables and entrepreneurs’ personality traits and start-up methodology on innovative performance. The adjusted R-square value is 0.6078, indicating 60.78% of variation of innovative performance is explained by the control variables and independent variables, showing independent variables’ effect of 56.80%. The overall F-statistic $=0.000<0.05,$ indicating the combined effect of control variables and independent variables, is statistically significant.

Model 2 in Table 2 is statistically significant only if $p<0.05$, male ($\beta =0.036$, $p\_value=0.852$) have positively non-significant impact, female ($\beta =0.026, p\_value=0.915$) has a positively non-significant impact, age of entrepreneur ($\beta =0.002, p\_value=0.680$) has a positively non-significant impact, work experience ($\beta =0.382, p\_value=0.002)$ has a positively significant impact, degree and above ($\beta =0.143,p\_value=0.464)$ has a positively non-significant impact, and up to diploma ($\beta =0.127,p\_value=0.512)$ has a positively non-significant impact. It is observed that among the SEED winners in recycling in Ghana, work experience has a significant positive impact on innovative performance.

In Model 2, statistical significance occurs only if $p\_value<0.05$, locus of control ($\beta =0.125$, $p\_value$ $=0.042$) has a positive significant impact, entrepreneur curiosity ($\beta =0.130, p\_value=0.038$) has a positively significant impact, risk attitude ($\beta =0.044,p\_value=0.457$) has a positively non-significant impact, self-efficacy ($\beta =0.831, p\_value=0.000)$ has a positively significant impact, degree and above ($\beta =0.143,p\_value=0.464)$ has a positively non-significant impact, and up to diploma ($\beta =0.127,p\_value=0.512)$ has a positively non-significant impact. It is observed that among entrepreneurs’ traits, locus of control, curiosity, and self-efficacy have significant positive impact on innovative performance.

In Model 2 (Table 2), statistical significance occurs only if $p\_value<0.05$, perceived public policy support ($\beta =0.192$, $p\_value=0.395$) has a positive non-significant impact, and perceived public policy instability ($\beta =-0.119, p\_value=0.505$) has a negative non-significant impact. It is observed that, related to the influence of external factors, perceived public policy support has a positive non-significant impact on innovative performance.

Model 3 (Table 2) indicated that the interaction term Degree above * Available Tech ($\beta =0.018$, $p\_value=0.042<0.05$) has a positively significant impact on innovative performance, with an interaction effect of 0.009.

5. Discussion

This study investigated the relationship between entrepreneurs’ traits/characteristics and firm innovation performance among Ghanaian waste recycling entrepreneurs. Respondents of this study were selected in the final list of the SEED award competition from 2010 to 2019. A regression analysis was used to examine the data from a sample of 153 of these entrepreneur founders, co-founders, and shareholders. We analyzed the relationship between firm innovative performance and (1) demographic variables (gender, age, education, and experience), (2) self-efficacy, (3) risk attitude, (4) entrepreneurs’ curiosity, (5) locus of control, (6) perceived public policy support, and (7) perceived public policy instability.

Our study posits that in order to understand why these wastes recycling firms achieve higher innovative performance, there is a need to take into consideration both the heterogeneous nature of the firm and the cognitive characteristics of the entrepreneurs behind the business. Our data analysis shows that successful entrepreneurs in waste recycling in Ghana have similar backgrounds and are driven by the same cognitive characteristics that ultimately affect the performance of the firms they run, at least in terms of innovation engagement. First, the results of this research show that among entrepreneurs’ demographic variables, experience is significant in explaining firm innovation propensity. In particular, the number of years of the entrepreneur’s previous experience and the positions held during their tenure affect the propensity of the firm to introduce innovation. Therefore, the highly experienced entrepreneurs that finally engage in waste recycling start-ups are more prone to have businesses that innovate. This result is in line with the characteristic of Schumpeterian entrepreneurs [2] and the factors including those in the complex process model of entrepreneurship [23]. Among our respondents, we can cite as an example the case of Jurgen Meinel, former manager of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), co-founder of City Waste Recycling in Ghana, and Amadu Ibrahim, CEO founder of Deco Ghana, who specifically link their innovative idea with their previous job experience.

Second, even after controlling for organizational characteristics such as organizational size, education attainment is associated with firm innovation performance. An interesting result of this study is that having a university degree doubles the probability of innovating compared to having a diploma. This finding contradicts Lazear’s hypothesis that entrepreneurs must be jacks-of-all-trades who succeed in a range of skills rather than just one. In a country like Ghana, where high levels of inequality determine access to quality education, getting a degree may be a proxy for other unobservable factors that may be necessary for, or serve as enablers of, firm innovation, such as a better socio-economic background and/or wider, more diversified, and high-quality social networks. Firm actions and creative success are influenced by the relationship between education and the “quality” of social networks [15,76]. Most of the SEED winners in Ghana had completed a university degree (e.g., Amadu Ibrahim (Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Development Studies, and Nelson Baoteng (Master in Computer Engineering).

Third, our empirical findings show that as entrepreneurs lead their companies across a rapidly evolving and globalized environment, the effect of their personal traits, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies is likely to grow and influence overall firm efficiency. Specifically, our study contributes to the existing literature by proposing that waste recycling entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy, locus of control, and risk attitude contribute to firm innovation performance. Self-efficacy level, in particular, will predict an entrepreneur’s ability to introduce new products to the market. While this cognitive aspect has been extensively researched from the perspective of entrepreneurial intent [90,94], few researchers have linked self-efficacy to innovation. The positive relationship between self-efficacy and innovation performance that we found exemplifies one way in which self-efficacy could be a useful influence factor in entrepreneurial functioning. Furthermore, our data suggest that a higher level of self-efficacy is correlated with better performance, contrary to Vancouver, Thompson, and Williams [93] and Yeo and Neal [94], who conclude that low performance increases self-efficacy.

We also found that the cognitive characteristic of locus of control is positively related to entrepreneurs’ innovativeness. This result is in line with previous studies in the risk-propensity literature, which found that locus of control has a positive effect on risky decisions and innovation in new projects. Locus of control is considered one of the main factors influencing ethical behavioral decision-making toward initiating innovation activities in the waste recycling sector.

6. Conclusions

The study’s main contribution is a one-of-a-kind attempt to understand the interrelationship between entrepreneurs’ traits and characteristics and waste recycling enterprise innovation success in Ghana. Our study applied and followed UET to further extract factors distinguishing innovative entrepreneurs in waste recycling. By selecting only SEED award winners, we have obtained common personality traits and characteristics for successful entrepreneurs in the waste recycling sector, which has contributed to the entrepreneurship literature. Following the regression analysis, four factors were identified as key factors with high driving power for innovation performance. These factors include entrepreneurs’ experience, education, self-efficacy, and locus of control as the four most common characteristics and traits of successful entrepreneurs in waste recycling. The results of this study will assist potential entrepreneurs in waste recycling and government policy-makers to establish a profile requirement for entrepreneurs in the waste recycling sector.

It is important to note that the model presented in this report, as well as the results, is not without limitations. First, profiling a successful entrepreneur in waste recycling in Ghana is a goal; however, not only the identifying personality traits and characteristics can influence the firm innovation performance. The whole process is complex because of different reasons. The success of a waste recycling company’s invention can be influenced by a broad range of factors, including social factors, cultural impact, group actions, political and economic factors, social trade-offs, and social disputes and regulations. All of these variables are continually evolving and have a rapid impact on the firm’s climate. As a result, using a relatively simple model built in this study to describe factors that affect waste recycling innovation efficiency is very restricted.

Other non-demographic variables that affect firm performance, such as firm size, trading partners, and competitive pressure, were examined in our literature, but their impact on innovation performance was not measured. As a result, local academics are being challenged to study them. Furthermore, future researchers should differentiate between owners, shareholders, and managers, as the data available at the time of the survey made it difficult to do so accurately.