Ali Salehi, DBA, Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), 283 Boul. Alexandre-Taché, Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7, Canada, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hamed Motaghi, Prof. Dr., Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), 283 Boul. Alexandre-Taché, Gatineau, QC J8X 3X7, Canada, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Manel Kammoun, Prof. Dr., Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), 5, rue Saint-Joseph Saint-Jérôme (Québec) Canada, J7Z 0B7, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

PURPOSE: The study aims to investigate the effects of behavioral finance (BF) on ethnic entrepreneurship investment success (EEIS), with a particular focus on ethnic entrepreneurs operating in host-country contexts. It further hypothesizes that project management methodology (PM2) both moderates and mediates this relationship. METHODOLOGY: A quantitative research design was employed using survey data collected in 2024 from a sample of 183 ethnic entrepreneurs in the province of Quebec. The study is grounded in a descriptive-analytical approach and forms part of a broader empirical investigation examining behavioral and contextual determinants of entrepreneurial investment outcomes. FINDINGS: The results indicate that behavioral finance has a significant negative impact on ethnic entrepreneurs’ decisions; however, the PM2 methodology both moderates and mediates this relationship. A detailed examination of behavioral finance factors revealed that heuristic effects and framing-dependent biases had significant impacts, whereas market conditions exhibited weaker associations. The findings also suggest that the convergence of heuristic effects, framing-dependent biases, and ethnic market conditions, when integrated with project management methodology, significantly enhances the decision-making processes of ethnic entrepreneurs. IMPLICATIONS: This study offers valuable insights for immigrant investors and ethnic entrepreneurs operating in host countries. The findings suggest that adopting the PM2 methodology can serve as both a moderator and a mediator of behavioral finance’s influence on decision-making processes. ORIGINALITY & VALUE: Despite the growing prominence of behavioral finance in the financial sector, its impact on the decisions of non-financial investors, particularly entrepreneurs, remains insufficiently understood. This study is among the first to empirically examine the combined roles of behavioral finance and PM2 methodology in shaping ethnic entrepreneurship decisions.

Keywords: behavioral finance, ethnic entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurship, cognitive biases, entrepreneurial investment, methodology, venture performance.