디지털 전환시대 로컬창업생태계의 경험 기반 혁신가로서 중장년 창업자: 창업동기, 창업역량 및 창업성과 차이 분석

초록

This study examines whether the experience characteristics and startup type of middle-aged entrepreneurs are associated with differences in startup motivation, capabilities, and performance, reframing middle-aged entrepreneurs as experience-based innovators in the local startup ecosystem in the era of digital transformation. While Korea has entered a super-aged society and early retirement is accelerating, research and policy support for middle-aged entrepreneurs remain limited compared with those for younger founders. Drawing on human capital theory, the resource-based view, social capital theory, the technology acceptance model, and self-determination theory, the study operationalizes entrepreneur type (number of prior startups, years since current startup, government support experience) and startup type (technology-based, small business). Survey data from 130 Korean entrepreneurs aged 40 and older were analyzed by MANOVA to test 28 sub-hypotheses, focusing on group differences rather than causal effects. Six sub-hypotheses were supported at p<.05 and three were marginal at p<.10. Startup motivation showed no significant difference across any grouping factor, suggesting it is rooted in entry-stage need structures. Startup type differentiated all four capability dimensions, and new technology acceptance capability emerged as a key digital-era differentiator. Startup performance differed by time-accumulated variables such as the number of prior startups and years since the current startup, rather than by structural or support-based variables. The study reframes middle-aged entrepreneurship as innovation within the local startup ecosystem under digital transformation and highlights new technology acceptance capability as a distinct construct bridging IT-management and entrepreneurship research. As the design is cross-sectional and self-reported, findings are interpreted as group differences and associations, not causal effects.

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