Closing the funding gap for disabled entrepreneurs with the help of cognitive science

Disabled people experience much lower labor market participation rates than the non-disabled worldwide. Entrepreneurship has been coined as a powerful tool against unemployment, especially for minority and marginalized groups. However, disabled people face specific entry barriers to entrepreneur-ship, among which the most important one is the lack of access to start-up capital. Despite the importance of the issue, there is a paucity of studies investigating why equity investors (e.g. business angels, venture capital investors) place disabled entrepreneur at a disadvantage.
In this project, we aim to shed light on investors’ decision-making processes when evaluating new ventures led by disabled entrepreneurs. For that, we will draw on a cognitive perspective, building on cognitive load and cognitive dissonance theory. From a methodological point of view, we will perform a series of online, lab, and field experiments, employing novel neurophysiological measurements such as electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye tracking. These methods enable us to study what happens in the brains of the investors when they make funding decisions – a novel territory in entrepreneurship research
Our main theoretical contribution will be to the disability and minority entrepreneurship literature, where we will add a much-needed cognitive lens, helping to understand the decision-making processes of new venture investors when facing disabled entrepreneurs and uncover what lies behind the apparent discrimination of such entrepreneurs. For disabled entrepreneurs our study shows how to best position and present their ventures to overcome the difficulties in getting financed. For equity investors, our study will help them to better comprehend their own decision processes, so that they can reach their self-pro-claimed goals of diversity and inclusivity. Our study will also inform policy makers about the objectives and instruments needed to close the gap in financing for disabled entrepreneurs.