Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of university students in selected post-communist countries in Europe: investigating cross-cultural differences
Abstract
Main goal of this study is to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of students in selected European post-communist states. The second purpose of the research is to learn about those determinants which, according to the respondents themselves, are essential for the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions. In short, the results of hierarchical multiple OLS regression indicated that the most important factor influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of the surveyed students was entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Moreover, based on estimates of the final regression model, it was identified that dummy variables concerning the respondents’ country significantly moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the dependent variable. It can be noted that the strength of the impact of the above-mentioned regressor is closely related to the values of Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture. The obtained results were fully confirmed using an alternative research method, i.e. the ordered logit model. In the second stage of the study, it was revealed that the desire to be independent is the most frequently cited factor motivating the respondents to start their own business. Moreover, using the multiple marginal independence (MMI) testing method, it was found that student responses differ significantly among the examined countries, except for two cases, i.e. Russia and Latvia, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
First published online 30 November 2021
Keyword : entrepreneurial intentions, self-efficacy, cross-cultural approach, hierarchical multiple OLS regression, multiple marginal independence testing, ordered logit model
How to Cite
Tomal, M., & Szromnik, A. (2022). Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of university students in selected post-communist countries in Europe: investigating cross-cultural differences. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 23(1), 60–81. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2021.15546
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Nowiński, W., Haddoud, M. Y., Lančarič, D., Egerová, D., & Czeglédi, C. (2019). The impact of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and gender on entrepreneurial intentions of university students in the Visegrad countries. Studies in Higher Education, 44(2), 361–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1365359
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Pawlak, A. (2016). The influence of gender on the entrepreneurial intention of Polish high school students. Studia Oeconomica Posnaniensia, 4(5), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.18559/SOEP.2016.5.2
Pfeifer, S., Šarlija, N., & Zekić Sušac, M. (2016). Shaping the entrepreneurial mindset: Entrepreneurial intentions of business students in Croatia. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(1), 102–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12133
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Schwarz, E. J., Wdowiak, M. A., Almer‐Jarz, D. A., & Breitenecker, R. J. (2009). The effects of attitudes and perceived environment conditions on students’ entrepreneurial intent. Education + Training, 51(4), 272–291. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910910964566
Shinnar, R. S., Hsu, D. K., & Powell, B. C. (2014). Self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions, and gender: Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education longitudinally. The International Journal of Management Education, 12(3), 561–570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2014.09.005
Solesvik, M. (2013). Entrepreneurial motivations and intentions: Investigating the role of education major. Education + Training, 55(3), 253–271. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911311309314
Solesvik, M., Westhead, P., & Matlay, H. (2014). Cultural factors and entrepreneurial intention: The role of entrepreneurship education. Education + Training, 56(8/9), 680–696. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2014-0075
Solesvik, M., Westhead, P., Matlay, H., & N. Parsyak, V. (2013). Entrepreneurial assets and mindsets: Benefit from university entrepreneurship education investment. Education + Training, 55(8/9), 748–762. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-06-2013-0075
Trung, T. L., Xuan, H. D., Ngoc, H. N., Cong, D. D., & Phuong, L. N. T. (2020). A comparative analysis of entrepreneurial intention and migration attitudes of students in Vietnam and Poland. Management Science Letters, 10, 479–488. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.8.022
Wach, K., & Wojciechowski, L. (2016). Entrepreneurial intentions of students in Poland in the view of Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 4(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2016.040106
Wąsowska, A. (2016). Who doesn’t want to be an entrepreneur? The role of need for closure in forming entrepreneurial intentions of Polish students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 4(3), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2016.040303
Westhead, P., & Solesvik, M. (2016). Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention: Do female students benefit? International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 34(8), 979–1003. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242615612534
Zhang, P., Wang, D. D., & Owen, C. L. (2015). A study of entrepreneurial intention of university students. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 5(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2014-0004
Ziemiański, P. (2018). Family business experience and the probability of starting a venture: Gender differences in Poland. Journal of East European Management Studies, 23(4), 603–620. https://doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2018-4-603
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Anlesinya, A., Adepoju, O. A., & Richter, U. H. (2019). Cultural orientation, perceived support and participation of female students in formal entrepreneurship in the sub-Saharan economy of Ghana. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 11(3), 299–322. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-01-2019-0018
Bell, R. (2019). Predicting entrepreneurial intention across the university. Education + Training, 61(7/8), 815–831. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-05-2018-0117
Bilder, C. R., & Loughin, T. M. (2004). Testing for marginal independence between two categorical variables with multiple responses. Biometrics, 60(1), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0006-341X.2004.00147.x
Bilder, C. R., Loughin, T. M., & Nettleton, D. (2000). Multiple marginal independence testing for pick any/c variables. Communications in Statistics – Simulation and Computation, 29(4), 1285–1316. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610910008813665
Boubker, O., Arroud, M., & Ouajdouni, A. (2021). Entrepreneurship education versus management students’ entrepreneurial intentions. A PLS-SEM approach. The International Journal of Management Education, 19(1), 100450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2020.100450
Branchet, B., & Křížková, A. (2015). Gender and entrepreneurial intentions in a transition economy context: Case of the Czech Republic. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 25(3), 260. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2015.069696
Capelleras, J. L., Contín-Pilart, I., Martin-Sanchez, V., & Larraza-Kintana, M. (2013). The influence of individual perceptions and the urban/rural environment on nascent entrepreneurship. Investigaciones Regionales-Journal of Regional Research, 26, 97–113. https://old.aecr.org/images/ImatgesArticles/2013/10/5Capelleras.pdf
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. (2019). Lower birth and migration rates recorded in Latvia. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.csb.gov.lv/en/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/number-and-change/search-in-theme/2444-number-population-latvia-2018
Çera, G., Cepel, M., Zakutna, S., & Rozsa, Z. (2018). Gender differences in perception of the university education quality as applied to entrepreneurial intention. Journal of International Studies, 11(3), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-3/13
Egerová, D., Eger, L., & Mičík, M. (2017). Does entrepreneurship education matter? Business students’ perspectives. Tertiary Education and Management, 23(4), 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2017.1299205
Fullerton, A. S. (2009). A conceptual framework for ordered logistic regression models. Sociological Methods & Research, 38(2), 306–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124109346162
Gill, S. A., Bencheva, N., Karayel, S., & Usman, M. (2021). Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy moderate effects of cognitive flexibility and entrepreneurial alertness on entrepreneurial intentions? Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(3), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090302
Gubik, A. S. (2021). Entrepreneurial career: Factors influencing the decision of Hungarian students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(3), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090303
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. McGraw-Hill. https://www.worldcat.org/title/cultures-and-organizations-software-of-the-mind/oclc/23015181
Hofstede Insights. (2020). Country comparison. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.hofstede-insights.com
Iakovleva, T., & Solesvik, M. Z. (2014). Entrepreneurial intentions in post-Soviet economies. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 21(1), 79–100. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2014.057916
Kofanova, T. (1997). Emergence of youth entrepreneurship. In S. P. Sirotkin (Ed.), Conditions and factors of forming of the Russian entrepreneurship (pp. 64–65). Kostroma State Technical University.
Kurczewska, A., & Białek, J. (2014). Is the interplay between self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention gender-dependent? Argumenta Oeconomica, 2(33), 23–38. https://doi.org/10.15611/aoe.2014.2.02
Levesque, M., & Minniti, M. (2006). The effect of aging on entrepreneurial behavior. Journal of Business Venturing, 21(2), 177-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2005.04.003
Moreno-Gómez, J., Gómez-Araujo, E., & Castillo-De Andreis, R. (2019). Parental role models and entrepreneurial intentions in Colombia: Does gender play a moderating role? Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 12(3), 413–429. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-04-2019-0048
Moriano, J. A., Gorgievski, M., Laguna, M., Stephan, U., & Zarafshani, K. (2012). A cross-cultural approach to understanding entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Career Development, 39(2), 162–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845310384481
Moussa, N. B., & Kerkeni, S. (2021). The role of family environment in developing the entrepreneurial intention of young Tunisian students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(1), 31–45. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2021.090102
Nowiński, W., & Haddoud, M. Y. (2019). The role of inspiring role models in enhancing entrepreneurial intention. Journal of Business Research, 96, 183–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.11.005
Nowiński, W., Haddoud, M. Y., Lančarič, D., Egerová, D., & Czeglédi, C. (2019). The impact of entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and gender on entrepreneurial intentions of university students in the Visegrad countries. Studies in Higher Education, 44(2), 361–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1365359
Okręglicka, M., Havierniková, K., Mynarzová, M., & Lemańska-Majdzik, A. (2017). Entrepreneurial intention creation of students in Poland, Slovakia and Czechia. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 15(2), 162–172. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2017.15.2.15
Pawlak, A. (2016). The influence of gender on the entrepreneurial intention of Polish high school students. Studia Oeconomica Posnaniensia, 4(5), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.18559/SOEP.2016.5.2
Pfeifer, S., Šarlija, N., & Zekić Sušac, M. (2016). Shaping the entrepreneurial mindset: Entrepreneurial intentions of business students in Croatia. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(1), 102–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsbm.12133
Rantanen, T., Pawlak, A., & Toikko, T. (2015). The significance of social welfare attitudes in young people’s entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 3(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2015.030104
Schwarz, E. J., Wdowiak, M. A., Almer‐Jarz, D. A., & Breitenecker, R. J. (2009). The effects of attitudes and perceived environment conditions on students’ entrepreneurial intent. Education + Training, 51(4), 272–291. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910910964566
Shinnar, R. S., Hsu, D. K., & Powell, B. C. (2014). Self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions, and gender: Assessing the impact of entrepreneurship education longitudinally. The International Journal of Management Education, 12(3), 561–570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2014.09.005
Solesvik, M. (2013). Entrepreneurial motivations and intentions: Investigating the role of education major. Education + Training, 55(3), 253–271. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911311309314
Solesvik, M., Westhead, P., & Matlay, H. (2014). Cultural factors and entrepreneurial intention: The role of entrepreneurship education. Education + Training, 56(8/9), 680–696. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2014-0075
Solesvik, M., Westhead, P., Matlay, H., & N. Parsyak, V. (2013). Entrepreneurial assets and mindsets: Benefit from university entrepreneurship education investment. Education + Training, 55(8/9), 748–762. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-06-2013-0075
Trung, T. L., Xuan, H. D., Ngoc, H. N., Cong, D. D., & Phuong, L. N. T. (2020). A comparative analysis of entrepreneurial intention and migration attitudes of students in Vietnam and Poland. Management Science Letters, 10, 479–488. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.8.022
Wach, K., & Wojciechowski, L. (2016). Entrepreneurial intentions of students in Poland in the view of Ajzen’s theory of planned behaviour. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 4(1), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2016.040106
Wąsowska, A. (2016). Who doesn’t want to be an entrepreneur? The role of need for closure in forming entrepreneurial intentions of Polish students. Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, 4(3), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.15678/EBER.2016.040303
Westhead, P., & Solesvik, M. (2016). Entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention: Do female students benefit? International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 34(8), 979–1003. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242615612534
Zhang, P., Wang, D. D., & Owen, C. L. (2015). A study of entrepreneurial intention of university students. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 5(1), 61–82. https://doi.org/10.1515/erj-2014-0004
Ziemiański, P. (2018). Family business experience and the probability of starting a venture: Gender differences in Poland. Journal of East European Management Studies, 23(4), 603–620. https://doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2018-4-603