IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tov/dsiess/v25y2012.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role and Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention at University Level: Theoretical Issues and New Empirical Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Scafarto

    (Università degli Studi di Macerata)

  • Simona Balzano

    (Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale)

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to investigate the entrepreneurial intentions of 252 Italian business graduate students from University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. Based on the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TBP), we used the Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ) to collect the data which were analysed through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), by using PLS (Partial Least Squares) approach. Consistently with previous studies the main results suggest that entrepreneurial intentions are directly influenced by personal attitudes and perceived behavioural control, while the effect produced by subjective norms is mediated. Differences in working experiences and the presence of a family business also contribute to explain student's propensity toward entrepreneurship. Furthermore, either gender diversity or the positive valuation about the role of university education seem to contribute significantly to the genesis of entrepreneurial intentions. Based on these results, we propose some considerations about the need to intensify entrepreneurial education efforts at Tor Vergata University. Finally, the paper constitutes a seminal study about entrepreneurial intentions of Italian university students, adding new evidence to a consolidated scientific conversation from a different university context.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Scafarto & Simona Balzano, 2012. "The Role and Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intention at University Level: Theoretical Issues and New Empirical Evidence from Italy," DSI Essays Series, DSI - Dipartimento di Studi sull'Impresa, vol. 25.
    • Handle: RePEc:tov:dsiess:v:25:y:2012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://160.80.46.16/public/igf/files/Ricerca/collane_riviste/25_Scafarto_Balzano_epod.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sam Youl Lee & Richard Florida & Zoltan J. Acs, 2008. "Creativity and Entrepreneurship: A Regional Analysis of New Firm Formation," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 13, pages 171-182, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Carr, Jon C. & Sequeira, Jennifer M., 2007. "Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepreneurial intent: A Theory of Planned Behavior approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1090-1098, October.
    3. Lee, Joo-Heon & Venkataraman, S., 2006. "Aspirations, market offerings, and the pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 107-123, January.
    4. Francisco Liñán & Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Cohard & José Manuel Rueda-Cantuche, 2005. "Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels," ERSA conference papers ersa05p432, European Regional Science Association.
    5. repec:kap:iaecre:v:13:y:2007:i:4:p:443-453 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ronald K. Mitchell & Lowell W. Busenitz & Barbara Bird & Connie Marie Gaglio & Jeffery S. McMullen & Eric A. Morse & J. Brock Smith, 2007. "The Central Question in Entrepreneurial Cognition Research 2007," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(1), pages 1-27, January.
    7. Oghazi Pejvak & Jung Marie-Louise & Peighambari Kaveh & Tretten Phillip, 2009. "What makes people want to become self-employed ? Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior," Advances In Management, Advances in Management, vol. 2(11), November.
    8. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    9. Kolvereid, Lars & Isaksen, Espen, 2006. "New business start-up and subsequent entry into self-employment," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 866-885, November.
    10. Norris Krueger, 1993. "The Impact of Prior Entrepreneurial Exposure on Perceptions of New Venture Feasibility and Desirability," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(1), pages 5-21, October.
    11. Per Davidsson & Johan Wiklund, 2001. "Levels of Analysis in Entrepreneurship Research: Current Research Practice and Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(4), pages 81-100, July.
    12. Kelly G. Shaver & William B. Gartner & Elizabeth Crosby & Karolina Bakalarova & Elizabeth J. Gatewood, 2001. "Attributions about Entrepreneurship: A Framework and Process for Analyzing Reasons for Starting a Business," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(2), pages 5-28, December.
    13. Cooper, Arnold C., 1993. "Challenges in predicting new firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 241-253, May.
    14. Higgins, Christopher Alan & Duxbury, Linda Elizabeth & Irving, Richard Harold, 1992. "Work-family conflict in the dual-career family," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 51-75, February.
    15. John Hulland, 1999. "Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 195-204, February.
    16. Lee, Soo Hoon & Wong, Poh Kam, 2004. "An exploratory study of technopreneurial intentions: a career anchor perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 7-28, January.
    17. Norris F. Krueger, 2007. "The Cognitive Infrastructure of Opportunity Emergence," Springer Books, in: Álvaro Cuervo & Domingo Ribeiro & Salvador Roig (ed.), Entrepreneurship, pages 185-206, Springer.
    18. Robert F. Scherer & Janet S. Adams & Susan S. Carley & Frank A. Wiebe, 1989. "Role Model Performance Effects on Development of Entrepreneurial Career Preference," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 13(3), pages 53-72, April.
    19. Francisco Liñán & Francisco Santos, 2007. "Does Social Capital Affect Entrepreneurial Intentions?," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 13(4), pages 443-453, November.
    20. Chen, Chao C. & Greene, Patricia Gene & Crick, Ann, 1998. "Does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 295-316, July.
    21. Souitaris, Vangelis & Zerbinati, Stefania & Al-Laham, Andreas, 2007. "Do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning, inspiration and resources," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 566-591, July.
    22. Marie-Laure Salles-Djelic, 2009. "Management," Post-Print hal-01891984, HAL.
    23. Carter, Nancy M. & Gartner, William B. & Reynolds, Paul D., 1996. "Exploring start-up event sequences," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 151-166, May.
    24. William B. Gartner & Kelly G. Shaver & Elizabeth Gatewood & Jerome A. Katz, 1994. "Finding the Entrepreneur in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(3), pages 5-9, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Liñán & Yi–Wen Chen, 2009. "Development and Cross–Cultural Application of a Specific Instrument to Measure Entrepreneurial Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 593-617, May.
    2. Carlos Bazan & Hannah Gaultois & Arifusalam Shaikh & Katie Gillespie & Sean Frederick & Ali Amjad & Simon Yap & Chantel Finn & James Rayner & Nafisa Belal, 2020. "A systematic literature review of the influence of the university’s environment and support system on the precursors of social entrepreneurial intention of students," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-28, December.
    3. Francisco Liñán & Yi-Wen Chen, 2006. "Testing the Entrepreneurial Intention Model on a Two-Country Sample," Working Papers 0607, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Jul 2006.
    4. Christopher Schlaegel & Michael Koenig, 2014. "Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intent: A Meta–Analytic Test and Integration of Competing Models," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(2), pages 291-332, March.
    5. Edo Rajh & Jelena Budak & Jovo Ateljevic & Ljupco Davcev & Tamara Jovanov & Kosovka Ognjenovic, 2016. "Entrepreneurial Intentions in Selected Southeast European Countries," Working Papers 1609, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    6. Anca-Otilia Dodescu & Elena-Aurelia Botezat & Alexandru Constăngioară & Ioana-Crina Pop-Cohuţ, 2021. "A Partial Least-Square Mediation Analysis of the Contribution of Cross-Campus Entrepreneurship Education to Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    7. Laspita, Stavroula & Breugst, Nicola & Heblich, Stephan & Patzelt, Holger, 2012. "Intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 414-435.
    8. von Graevenitz, Georg & Harhoff, Dietmar & Weber, Richard, 2010. "The effects of entrepreneurship education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 90-112, October.
    9. Virginia Fernández-Pérez & Ana Montes-Merino & Lázaro Rodríguez-Ariza & Patricia Esther Alonso Galicia, 2019. "Emotional competencies and cognitive antecedents in shaping student’s entrepreneurial intention: the moderating role of entrepreneurship education," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 281-305, March.
    10. Eric W. Liguori & Joshua S. Bendickson & William C. McDowell, 2018. "Revisiting entrepreneurial intentions: a social cognitive career theory approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 67-78, March.
    11. Brunella Arru, 2020. "An integrative model for understanding the sustainable entrepreneurs’ behavioural intentions: an empirical study of the Italian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3519-3576, April.
    12. Heinrichs, Simon & Walter, Sascha, 2013. "Who Becomes an Entrepreneur? A 30-Years-Review of Individual-Level Research and an Agenda for Future Research," EconStor Preprints 68590, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Rohit H. Trivedi, 2017. "Entrepreneurial-intention constraint model: A comparative analysis among post-graduate management students in India, Singapore and Malaysia," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 1239-1261, December.
    14. Zapkau, Florian B. & Schwens, Christian & Steinmetz, Holger & Kabst, Rüdiger, 2015. "Disentangling the effect of prior entrepreneurial exposure on entrepreneurial intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 639-653.
    15. Nowiński, Witold & Haddoud, Mohamed Yacine, 2019. "The role of inspiring role models in enhancing entrepreneurial intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 183-193.
    16. Genshu Lu & Yaping Song & Bingchao Pan, 2021. "How University Entrepreneurship Support Affects College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions: An Empirical Analysis from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-25, March.
    17. Soleimanof, Sohrab & Morris, Michael H. & Jang, Yongseok, 2021. "Following the footsteps that inspire: Parental passion, family communication, and children’s entrepreneurial attitudes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 450-461.
    18. Katharina Fellnhofer & Susan Mueller, 2018. "“I Want to Be Like You!”: The Influence of Role Models on Entrepreneurial Intention," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(02), pages 113-153, June.
    19. Sascha G. Walter & K. Praveen Parboteeah & Achim Walter, 2013. "University Departments and Self–Employment Intentions of Business Students: A Cross–Level Analysis," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(2), pages 175-200, March.
    20. Giuseppe Criaco & Philipp Sieger & Karl Wennberg & Francesco Chirico & Tommaso Minola, 2017. "Parents’ performance in entrepreneurship as a “double-edged sword” for the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 841-864, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurial Intentions; Entrepreneurship Education; Italy; Structural Equation Modelling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tov:dsiess:v:25:y:2012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mario Risso (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dirotit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.