S.M. (Sílvia) Dos Santos Fernandes Costa, PhD

Research interests:

• Entrepreneurship and affect
• Entrepreneurial cognition
• Entrepreneurship education
• Entrepreneurial teams
• Entrepreneurial wellbeing
• Experimental designs in entrepreneurship (methodology)

Sílvia is very interested in understanding how entrepreneurs think, act and learn. Sílvia’s projects focus on the intersection of entrepreneurship and psychology. Specifically, Sílvia is interested in understanding the cognitive processes underlying opportunity identification by entrepreneurs and how these cognitive processes can be learned and replicated by potential entrepreneurs. Sílvia is very interested in experiments as a methodology. She has published on this topic and has founded the Conducting Experiments in Entrepreneurship Research network and annual workshop.

Selected publications:

Costa, S., Tegtmeier, S., Santos, S. C., & Schenkel, M. T. (2024). Special Issue Guest Editorial: The Challenges of Experimental Designs in Entrepreneurship Education Research - An Interview With Thomas D. Cook. Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, 7(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/25151274231207726

Costa, S., Frederiks, A. J., Englis, P. D., Englis, B. G., & Groen, A. J. (2024). Pre-start-up internationalization mindsets trigger action. Journal of Small Business Management, 62(1), 487–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2022.2056607

Costa, S., Frederiks, A. J., Englis, P. D., Englis, B. G., & Groen, A. J. (2023). Global before birth: A study of internationalization mindsets of entrepreneurs. Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 4(2), 212–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/26437015.2022.2098880

Frederiks, A. J., Costa, S., Hulst, B., & Groen, A. J. (2022). The early bird catches the worm: The role of regulatory uncertainty in early adoption of blockchain’s cryptocurrency by fintech ventures. Journal of Small Business Management, 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2022.2089355

Santos, S. C., Costa, S., & Morris, M. (2022). Entrepreneurship as a Pathway into and out of Poverty: A Configuration Perspective. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2022.2030413 

Wach, D., Kruse, P., Costa, S., & Moriano, J. A. (2021). Exploring social and commercial entrepreneurial intentions from Theory of Planned Behaviour perspective: A cross-country study among Namibian and German students. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2020.1863250

Costa. S., & Frederiks, A. (2021) Experience, knowledge, and performance in entrepreneurship education: Proposing a dynamic learning model. In C. H. Matthews, & E. Liguori (Eds.) Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy (133 – 150). Edward Elgar.

Santos, S. C., Caetano, A., Costa, S. F., Rueff Lopes, R., Silva, A. J., & Neumeyer, X. (2020). Uncovering the affective turmoil during opportunity recognition and exploitation: A nonlinear approach. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbvi.2020.e00184

Costa, S., Belousova, O., Ouendag, A., & Groen, A. (2020). VentureLab Weekend: developing entrepreneurial skills from idea to action. In L. Aaboen, H. Landström, & R. Sørheim (Eds.) How to Become an Entrepreneur in a Week - The Value of 7-Day Entrepreneurship Courses (pp. 119-139). Edward Elgar.

Santos, S. C., Morris, M. H., Caetano, A., Costa, S. F., & Neumeyer, X. (2019). Team entrepreneurial competence: Multilevel effects on individual cognitive strategies. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, 25(6), 1259–1282. (ABS 2018 – 2)

Kruse, P., Wach, D., Costa, S., & Moriano, J. A. (2019). Values matter, don’t they? – Combining Theory of Planned Behavior and personal values as predictors of social entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 10(1), 55–83. (ABS 2018 – 2)

Costa, S.F., Santos, S. C., Wach, D., Caetano, A. (2018). Recognizing Opportunities across Campus: The Effects of Cognitive Training and Entrepreneurial Passion on the Business Opportunity Prototype. Journal of Small Business Management (forthcoming).

Santos, S. C., Caetano, A., Spagnoli, P. Costa, S., Neumeyer, X. (2017). Predictors of entrepreneurial activity before and during the European economic crisis. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal (available online first doi:10.1007/s11365-017-0453-8).

Costa, S. F., Caetano, A., Frederiks, A., & Santos, S. C. (2017).  Connecting the literature dots: A literature review on prototypes in entrepreneurship research. In S. C. Santos, A. Caetano, C. Mitchell, H. Landström, & A. Fayolle (Eds.) The Emergence of Entrepreneurial Behavior – Intention, Education and Orientation (pp. 15-43). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Santos, S.C., Caetano, A., Costa, S.F., & Neumeyer, X. (2017). Entrepreneurial potential among individuals with diferente entrepreneurial experience. In S. C. Santos, A. Caetano, C. Mitchell, H. Landström, & A. Fayolle (Eds.) The Emergence of Entrepreneurial Behavior – Intention, Education and Orientation (pp. 44-65). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Costa, S. F., Caetano, A., & Santos, S. C. (2016). Entrepreneurship as a career option: do temporary workers have the competencies, intention and willingness to become entrepreneurs? Journal of Entrepreneurship, 25(2), 1–26.

Costa, S. F., Ehrenhard, M. L., Caetano, A., & Santos, S. C. (2016). The Role of Different Opportunities in the Activation and Use of the Business Opportunity Prototype. Creativity and Innovation Management, 25(1), 58–72.

Osiyevskyy, O., Costa, S. F., & Madill, C. (2016). Business sense or subjective satisfaction? Exploring the outcomes of business planning comprehensiveness in small and medium business context. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 17(1), 15–30.

Santos, S. C., Costa, S. F., & Caetano, A. (2015). Socio- psychological characteristics of entrepreneurial teams: Profiling entrepreneurial potential. In A. Fayolle, P. Kyrö, & F. Liñán (Eds.), Developing, Shaping and Growing Entrepreneurship (pp. 101–125). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

Costa, S. F., Santos, S. C., & Caetano, A. (2013). Prototypical dimensions of business opportunity in early stages of the entrepreneurial process. Revista Psicologia: Organizações E Trabalho, 13(3), 265–278.