This study examines the impact of entrepreneur attributes on financing channels of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the moderating role of firm age on this relationship. It examines a comprehensive dataset of 4139 firm-year observations operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region observed over the 2013–2019 period. The results are four-fold. First, our overall findings reveal that experienced entrepreneurs tend to use internal funds. Second, the university education of entrepreneurs positively correlates with debt financing. Third, female entrepreneurs are more eager to use internal funds and less debt. Fourth, firm age is found to moderate these relationships. Indeed, in young SMEs, experienced entrepreneurs are shown to rely on debt, graduated entrepreneurs on internal funds, and in older SMEs, female entrepreneurs use debt. Our results bear on the proposals of upper echelons and organizational lifecycle theories.

中文翻译：

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中东和北非国家中小企业的企业家特征和融资模式：克服创新责任负担

本研究探讨了企业家属性对中小企业融资渠道的影响以及企业年龄对此关系的调节作用。它检查了 2013 年至 2019 年期间在中东和北非 (MENA) 地区进行的 4139 个公司年度观测的综合数据集。结果有四倍。首先，我们的总体研究结果表明，经验丰富的企业家倾向于使用内部资金。其次，企业家的大学教育程度与债务融资呈正相关。第三，女性创业者更愿意利用内部资金，更少负债。第四，年龄可以调节这些关系。事实上，在年轻的中小企业中，经验丰富的企业家依靠债务，毕业的企业家依靠内部资金，而在较老的中小企业中，女性企业家则使用债务。我们的结果与高层和组织生命周期理论的建议有关。