Individual religious affiliation, religiosity and entrepreneurial intentions among students in four countries

Abstract

This article explores religion and religiosity in the field of entrepreneurship. Based on an original, international dataset of 740 students, we examine the impact of individual religious affiliation (Protestant, Catholic or Muslim) or non-affiliation (Agnostic/Atheist) on entrepreneurial intentions. We further examine the influence of individual religiosity (beyond mere religious affiliation) on entrepreneurial intentions, offering new insights as to the role religion and religiosity play in entrepreneurship. Findings support the notion that religion matters when entrepreneurial intentions are concerned. We show that having a religious affiliation – as compared to identifying as an Agnostic/Atheist – has a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions. More importantly, we show that religiosity – not just religious affiliation – affects intentions differently across different religions, thus pointing to the importance of taking religiosity into account, and not only religious affiliation. We also show that followers of a specific religion cannot be regarded as a uniform group when it comes to entrepreneurship and that it is important to differentiate between streams.

Does religiosity affect entrepreneurial intention across countries?

“…Henley (2017) argued that religion has a range of cultural and institutional influences that impact entrepreneurial activity. Giacomin et al (2022) explored religion and religiosity in the field of entrepreneurship and supported the notion that religion matters in enhancing EIs. Musallam and Kamarudin (2021) provided a systematic review of contributions related to religiosity and entrepreneurship and suggested potential empirical and conceptual research by highlighting religiosity as a driving force for entrepreneurial activity.…”

“…Henley (2017) argued that religion has a range of cultural and institutional influences that impact entrepreneurial activity. Giacomin et al . (2022) explored religion and religiosity in the field of entrepreneurship and supported the notion that religion matters in enhancing EIs.…”

Religiosity and entrepreneurial motivation roles in the goal-specific relation: a case of Muslim students in Indonesia

“…In this article, I investigated the role of religiosity on goal-specific entrepreneurial intention, with entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial motivation as mediating variables. Giacomin et al (2022) stated that religion creates a framework of implicit and explicit values defining desirable and undesirable actions. Distinctly, religion is a fundamental variable that plays a significant role in people's lives, and it promotes certain types of individual behaviour, career choices and intentions to be an entrepreneur.…”

“…Islam is a religion that promotes entrepreneurship, as the hadith narrated by Ibn Majah, Hakim and Darruqutni from Abdullah bin Umar says that Muhammad SAW said, “an honest and trustworthy Muslim trader will be together with the Prophet, the honest, and the martyrs on the Day of Judgment” (Adi and Adawiyah, 2018). Furthermore, Giacomin et al (2022) asserted that affiliation to a particular religion, including Islam, affects the entrepreneurial intention of a Muslim.…”

Entrepreneurial effect of rural return migrants: Evidence from China

“…The factors that influence entrepreneurship focus on individual, social, and policy aspects. Individual factors include education, risk appetite, occupation experience, and family background ( Halvarsson et al, 2018 ; Duleep et al, 2022 ; Giacomin et al, 2022 ). Social factors refer to migration and mobility ( Lee and Eesley, 2018 ; Duleep et al, 2022 ), the internet economy and digital finance ( Cumming and Johan, 2010 ; Liu et al, 2022 ), and the business environment ( Wu and Lin, 2021 ).…”