Unraveling the link between managerial risk-taking and innovation: the mediating role of a risk-taking climate

Scholars have proposed that taking risks in organizations is important for explaining innovation performance. Scholars traditionally have analyzed this link from two unconnected perspectives. From a managerial perspective, entrepreneurial orientation and leadership theories have been used to explain the positive relation between manager's risk-taking and innovation. On the other hand, research on creativity suggests that a risk-taking climate helps to explain the generation of novel ideas. However, there is little empirical research analyzing this link. This study examines the possibility of a connection between managerial risk-taking propensity, risk-taking climate and innovation performance. To do so, we test a quantitative model where the impact of the manager' risk-taking propensity on innovation is mediated by its effect on risk-taking climate. Structural equation modeling is used to test the research hypotheses on a data set of 182 firms from the Spanish and Italian ceramic tile industryThe authors are grateful for the finance received from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ECO2011-28706, ECO2011-28749 and ECO2011-29863) to carry out this research. Moreover, acknowledgments are due to CSIC for funding Ana García-Granero's and Óscar Llopis's research grants (JAE-Predoc del Programa >Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios>) co-financed by the ESF.Peer Reviewe