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Entrepreneurial intentions, motivations and barriers: Differences among American, Asian and European students

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Abstract

Should entrepreneurship education be the same in every country or should it be adapted to each context? In addition to answering this question, it appears to be important to identify the concerns students have regarding their entrepreneurship education programs, so as to strengthen their perceptions of feasibility and desirability of an entrepreneurial career. In this article we examine whether differences exist among American, Asian and European students in terms of entrepreneurial intentions and dispositions, as well as motivations and perceived barriers for business startup. Results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition and intentions differ by country but that students across countries are motivated and/or discouraged by similar variables. However, our results indicate that the levels of sensitivity to each motivator and barrier differ by country. Our results support the argument made by past researches that cultural differences should be taken into consideration when develo** entrepreneurship education programs.

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Notes

  1. The completed questionnaire is available on request from the authors.

  2. For the Chinese and Indian students, verbal clarifications were given when necessary during survey administration.

  3. Normality is assumed.

  4. The alternative hypothesis (H1) was that for at least one group, the impact of one of the factors would be significantly different from the other groups.

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Acknowledgement

Frank Janssen and Olivier Giacomin wish to thank the Banque Nationale de Belgique for its financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brederode Chair in Entrepreneurship, CRECIS, Louvain School of Mangement, Université catholique de Louvain, 1 Place des Doyens, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Olivier Giacomin & Frank Janssen

  2. Walker College of Business, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28608-2037, USA

    Mark Pruett, Rachel S. Shinnar & Bryan Toney

  3. University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, 03080, Alicante, Spain

    Francisco Llopis

Authors
  1. Olivier Giacomin
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  2. Frank Janssen
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  3. Mark Pruett
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  4. Rachel S. Shinnar
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  5. Francisco Llopis
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  6. Bryan Toney
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Correspondence to Frank Janssen.

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Giacomin, O., Janssen, F., Pruett, M. et al. Entrepreneurial intentions, motivations and barriers: Differences among American, Asian and European students. Int Entrep Manag J 7, 219–238 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-010-0155-y

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