Abstract Based on resource-based view, this study explores the influence of government support on innovation performance in entrepreneurial firms through the mediating effect of entrepreneurial orientation. Through sampling 226 entrepreneurial firms from Shaanxi, the results empirically show that government support significantly strengthens innovation performance of entrepreneurial firms, and entrepreneurial orientation has partially played a mediating role between them. Further, the relationship between government support and entrepreneurial orientation is affected by the entrepreneurial failure experiences and competitive intensity. Specifically, both entrepreneurial failure experiences and low level of competitive intensity enhance the relationship between government support and entrepreneurial orientation. The study illustrates that, under the condition of government encouragement towards innovation and entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial firms should fully understand the effect of government support on innovation and make use of it more efficiently. Meanwhile, the government should take the influence of habitual entrepreneurs and industry competition environment on the entrepreneurial firms into consideration, which may improve the appropriate enactment of government policy.
