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The effects of demographic, cognitive and institutional factors on development of entrepreneurial intention: Toward a socio-cognitive model of entrepreneurial career

Los efectos de factores demográficos, cognitivos e institucionales, sobre el desarrollo de la intención emprendedora: hacia un modelo socio-cognitivo de carrera empresarial

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Abstract

Upon a well-established theoretical foundation Social Cognitive Career Theory; Lent, Brown, and Hackett (J Vocat Behav 45:79–122, 1994; J Couns Psychol 47:36–49, 2000), this study examines the effects of cognitive, affective, social, demographic, and contextual factors on the development of entrepreneurial intention. To test the hypotheses, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted using data from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey in which 183,049 individuals nested within 54 countries that participated. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy beliefs and entrepreneurial career outcome expectations are significantly correlated with entrepreneurial intention. Mastery experience including previous business ownership, entrepreneurial activity as part of a regular job or investing in a venture, exposure to a role model, social persuasion through media, and fear of failure are significant sources of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. A moderate relationship exists between country-level institutional profile and the sources of self-efficacy.

Resumen

Sobre una base teórica bien establecida (Teoría de Carrera Cognitiva Social), este estudio examina los efectos de factores cognitivos, demográficos y contextuales, en el desarrollo de la intención emprendedora. Para probar las hipótesis, se realizó un análisis de “regresión logística binaria”. Los datos fueron recogidos mediante la encuesta “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor” en la que participaron 183,049 personas de 54 países. Creencias de autoeficacia emprendedora y expectativas de carrera empresarial se correlacionaron significativamente con la intención emprendedora. Tener un negocio, actividad emprendedora como parte de un trabajo regular, invertir en una empresa, tener un modelo a seguir, la persuasión social a través de medios de comunicación y el miedo al fracaso, son importantes fuentes de autoeficacia emprendedora. Existe una relación moderada entre el perfil institucional del país y las fuentes de autoeficacia.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Professor Etemad, the Editor-in-Chief of JIEN, and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that they have no conflict of interest.

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This study was not funded by any organization.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by the author.

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  1. Umea School of Business and Economics, Umea University, Biblioteksgränd 6, Umeå, 90187, Sweden

    Ali Dehghanpour Farashah

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Correspondence to Ali Dehghanpour Farashah.

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Summary Highlights

Contributions: This study examines the role of the entrepreneur’s agency as well as the nature of opportunity and context on the development of entrepreneurial intention in an integrated manner. The integration of agency and opportunity as proposed by the research design and the use of multi-country multilevel data is novel in the literature. The results highlight the relative importance of both cognitive and institutional factors and explain the interaction of the factors.

Research questions/purpose: The aim of research is to examine: (a) the extent of influence of cognitive factors including entrepreneurial self-efficacy beliefs emanated from sources of self-efficacy and entrepreneurial career outcome expectations on entrepreneurial intention, and (b) the extent of influence of institutional factors including regulatory, cognitive, and normative dimensions on sources of self-efficacy.

Results/findings: The results endorse the notion that multiple and multilevel, rather than single, factor explanations are required to explain the mechanism of development of entrepreneurial intention more effectively. It emerges that institutional, cognitive, and demographic factors all matter. More specifically, actors who seek to launch a business appear to be differentially placed according to their national context, demographics, and access to sources of self-efficacy.

Theoretical implications and recommendations: This study first provides empirical evidence for verification of social cognitive career theory in the context of entrepreneurship. The results also reveal that among three dimensions of entrepreneurship institutional profile, normative dimension and among sources of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, personal mastery, and vicarious learning are the most influential factors on the development of entrepreneurial intention.

Practical implications and recommendations: This study proposes new perspectives on the establishment of institutional profile and policies (a) to provide better access to sources of self-efficacy and to influence individual cognitive processes alongside regulating the structure of the market and competition and (b) to provide students of entrepreneurship education programs with the opportunity to have a close encounter with the real world of entrepreneurship such as networking with real entrepreneurs, exercising entrepreneurship in a simulated environment, and investing in entrepreneurial ventures.

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Dehghanpour Farashah, A. The effects of demographic, cognitive and institutional factors on development of entrepreneurial intention: Toward a socio-cognitive model of entrepreneurial career. J Int Entrep 13, 452–476 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-015-0144-x

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