Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions

1DETERMINANTSOFENTREPRENEURIALINTENTIONS1PerDavidssonJönköpingInternationalBusinessSchool(JIBS)S-55111JönköpingSWEDENPhone:([phone];Fax:[phone];e-mail:[e-mail]TIXWorkshop,Piacenza,Italy,Nov.23-24,1995ABSTRACT================Inthispaperaneconomic-psychologicalmodeloffactorsthatinfluenceindividuals’intentionstogointobusinessforthemselvesisdevelopedandtested.Accordingtothismodeltheprimarydeterminantofentrepreneurialintentionisaperson’sconvictionthatstartingandrunningone’sownfirmisasuitablealternativeforhim/her.Thisconvictionisinitsturnbasedoncertaingeneralattitudesanddomainattitudes.Theformerrefertomoregeneralpsychologicaldispositionswhereasthelatterspecificallyconcernentrepreneurshipandowner-managedfirms.Attitudesarebelievedtoactasmediatorsforinfluencesofpersonalbackgroundfactors.Apartfromthis”mainchain”ofcausalinfluences,theindividual’scurrentsituation(i.e.,employmentstatus)isexpectedtohaveanimpactonbothconvictionandintentions.Theimportanceofthistypeofsituationalinfluencehasbeenhighlightedbypreviousresearch.Themodelistestedonalargesampleof35-40yearsoldSwedishsubjects.Amailquestionnairewithmultipleindicatorsoftheconceptsinthemodelwasdistributedto300subjectseachin6differentregions.Aresponserateofover70percentwasobtained.Theuseofsixseparatesamplesallowsforcheckingthestabilityoftheresults.Theresultslargelysupporttherelationshipssuggestedbythemodel.Comparativelyhighexplanatorypower(35andover50percent,respectively)wasobtainedforconvictionandintentions.Thesupposedeffectsofbackgroundfactorsandcurrentsituationwerealsoconfirmed.However,theanalysessuggestthatpartoftheinfluenceofbackgroundfactorsisnotmediatedbytheusedpsychologicalconstructs.Itisconcludedthatthemodelneatlysummarizesandintegratesmuchofwhatweknowfrompreviousresearchaboutfactorsthatinfluenceindividuals’entrepreneurialinclinations,andalsoaddssomenewinsights.1ThisresearchwaspartlyfundedbytheSwedishFoundationforSmallBusinessResearch(FSF).2DETERMINANTSOFENTREPRENEURIALINTENTIONS1.Whystudyentrepreneurialintentions?Fromthe1970´sanonwardsmanywesterncountrieshavesharedthesameexperience:largeestablishedfirmscannolongercreateanetincreaseinemployment.Thishasresultedinpermanentlyhighlevelsofunemploymentand/orinanincreasingrelativeimportanceofsmallandnewfirmsascreatorsofnewjobs(cf.Aiginger&Tichy,1991;Davidsson,1995a;1995b;Davidsson,Lindmark&Olofsson,1995,andtheirreferences).Thisisthebackgroundtothecurrentgreatpoliticalinterestinthesmallfirmsector,andthewidespreadhopesthatsmallandnewfirmswillsolveproblemsofunemploymentandeconomicdevelopment.Thisturnofeventshasbeenmirroredbyarisingacademicinterestinentrepreneurship,understoodasthecreationofnewindependentfirms2.Intheearlyempiricalresearchthisinterestwasverymuchfocusedonthepsychologicalcharacteristicsofbusinessfounders,althoughtheresearchwasnotcloselylinkedtocontemporarydevelopmentsinpsychology.Atraitapproachwasoftenemployed,andalmostendlesslistsofentrepreneurialtraitsweresuggested(cf.Hornaday,1982).Iteventuallyturnedoutthatthislineofresearchwasunabletogivemorethanasmallfractionoftheanswertothequestion”Whatmakespeoplefoundnewfirms?”(cf.Davidsson,1992;Gartner,1989;Low&MacMillan,1988).Ithasbeenconvincinglyarguedthatpersonalbackgroundcharacteristicshaveamorereliableinfluenceonthedecisiontofoundone’sownfirmthanhavepsychologicaltraits(Reynolds,1991;Stanworthetal,1989).Aresponsetothelimitedsuccessofthetraitapproachhasbeentoviewfirmcreationincontext.Onewayofdoingthisistoapplyamoreaggregatelevelofanalysisandtolookforregionalornationallevelvariablesthatcanexplainvariationsintherateofnewfirmformation(Aldrich&Wiedenmayer,1993).Thisapproachhasbeenrelativelysuccessful;strongandgeneralizablerelationshipshavebeenestablished(Davidsson,Lindmark&Olofsson,1994;Reynolds,Storey&Westhead,1994).Butthereisstillaneedfordisaggregatelevelunderstandingoftheprocessesleadingtonewfirmformation.Therefore,researchershavetriedtodevelopintegratedexplanatorymodelsthattakeintoaccountnotonlythegeneralpsychologicalcharacteristicsof(prospective)entrepreneurs,butalsodomain-specificattitudes,personalbackground,andsituationalvariables(e.g.,Bird,1993;Shapero&Sokol,1982;Shaver&Scott,1991).Aparticularbranchofthisapproachfocusesonthepre-decisionstage(i.e.,interest,entrepreneurialcareerpreference,characteristicsofnascententrepreneurs,cf.Bird,1988;Boyd&Vozikis,1994;Krueger,1993;1994;Krueger&Brazael,1994;Krueger&Carsrud,1993;Matthews&Moser,1995;Reynolds,1995;Scherer,Brodzinsky&Wiebe,1991;Schereretal,1989;Scott&Twomey,1988).Giventhatthedecisiontofoundafirmcanberegardedasreasonedactionorplannedbehavior--whichseemsreasonable--therelationship2InthispaperIhavechosentouse”entrepreneurship”and”newfirmformation”assynonyms.Likewise,an”entrepreneur”isapersonwhofoundshis/herownfirm.Itisacknowledgedthatthiscommonpracticeinempiricalentrepreneurshipresearchiscertainlynotunquestionable(cf.Davidsson,1992).Manynew,independentfirmsshowalowlevelofinnovativenessandverysimilarbehaviorandeffectsoccurinothercontextsthanthesmall,independentfirm.Amo