Determinants of Entrepreneurial Intentions

In this paper an economic-psychological model of factors that influence individuals’ intentions to go into business for themselves is developed and tested. According to this model the primary determinant of entrepreneurial intention is a person’s conviction that starting and running one’s own firm is a suitable alternative for him/her. This conviction is in its turn based on certain general attitudes and domain attitudes. The former refer to more general psychological dispositions whereas the latter specifically concern entrepreneurship and owner-managed firms. Attitudes are believed to act as mediators for influences of personal background factors. Apart from this ”main chain” of causal influences, the individual’s current situation (i.e., employment status) is expected to have an impact on both conviction and intentions. The importance of this type of situational influence has been highlighted by previous research. The model is tested on a large sample of 35-40 years old Swedish subjects. A mail questionnaire with multiple indicators of the concepts in the model was distributed to 300 subjects each in 6 different regions. A response rate of over 70 percent was obtained. The use of six separate samples allows for checking the stability of the results. The results largely support the relationships suggested by the model. Comparatively high explanatory power (35 and over 50 percent, respectively) was obtained for conviction and intentions. The supposed effects of background factors and current situation were also confirmed. However, the analyses suggest that part of the influence of background factors is not mediated by the used psychological constructs. It is concluded that the model neatly summarizes and integrates much of what we know from previous research about factors that influence individuals’ entrepreneurial inclinations, and also adds some new insights. 1 This research was partly funded by the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF).