An Analysis of the Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions among Students: A Romanian Case Study

Abstract

Developing people's interest towards starting a business plays a vital role in the former socialist countries in which, for a very long time, private property and free initiative were almost completely annihilated. Therefore, countries like Romania cannot design a sustainable growth model without taking into account the necessary improvements in the human capital factor, through the entrepreneurial education specific to the market economy, and in the social capital, which leads to stability and enhances the economic activity. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze how much the entrepreneurial intentions are influenced by certain psycho-behavioral traits of the individual (creativity, locus of control, need for achievement and risk taking propensity) and to evaluate the influence of different types of education on these intentions, in order to see if the entrepreneurial education significantly influences the entrepreneurial intentions of Romanian young people. By analyzing the specialized literature, we have developed six research hypothesis that were tested on a sample of 600 students from the undergraduate (bachelor) and master programs within the large state universities of Romania who have entrepreneurship courses in the content of their curricula, with the help of a questionnaire-based survey. Depending on the research hypothesis, several data analysis approaches were used, including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and General Linear Models (GLM). The main results of this study clearly illustrate that the need for achievement and the propensity towards taking risks play an important role in determining the entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, graduates of the high schools with an entrepreneurial field are less inclined to engage in businesses compared to the graduates of the high schools that offer general education.

Intención de emprendimiento en estudiantes de cinco países latinoamericanos y su relación con liderazgo, propensión al riesgo y locus de control,

“…The results of this study also show a positive correlation between risk propensity and entrepreneurial intention, as has been documented by various authors (Douglas & Fitzsimmons, 2013;Douglas & Shephard, 2002;nán, Urbano, & Guerrero, 2011;Popescu et al, 2016;Shane et al, 2003, to cite a few). That is to say, students with a disposition to take risks are, in turn, those who show a greater entrepreneurial intention.…”

“…However, the results of these studies have not been conclusive. Some studies have found that risk propensity among entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs is similar (Palich & Bagby, 1995), whereas others have confirmed that risk propensity is a determining variable in entrepreneu-rial intention (Popescu, Bostan, Robu, & Maxim, 2016). The latter findings have been supported by other studies which have concluded that risk tolerance is positively correlated with entrepreneurial behavior (Douglas & Shephard, 2002) and that this feature plays an important role in entrepreneurial intention (Douglas & Fitzsimmons, 2013;Shane et al, 2003).…”

The Impact of Selected Factors on the Quality of Business Environment Assessment in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic

“…Jones et al (2011) report that entrepreneurial education at a university can positively influence the decision of students to become entrepreneurs. A similar opinion is also provided by Popescu et al (2016). If universities create a positive environment in their educational activities and support entrepreneurial activities, students are more motivated to start an enterprise (Tredevi, 2016).…”

Role of entrepreneurship education on students intention and mediating effect of self-efficacy

“…People's performance is directly influenced by education (Popescu et al, 2016). Furthermore, entrepreneurship education is a vehicle for young people to develop their entrepreneurial intentions (Raposo and Do Paço, 2011;Bae et al, 2014;Fayolle and Gailly, 2015;Popescu et al, 2016). The entrepreneurial intention is described as a biased attitude of the potential entrepreneurs, involved or not involved in trade activities, and a broad description of people with consumerist traits, quality, and capability.…”