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Entrepreneurial intentions in diverse development contexts: a cross-cultural comparison between Senegal and Spain

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Abstract

This article compares entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents in two diverse economic and cultural contexts: Senegal and Spain. Starting from the Theory of Planned Behavior, a tailor-made instrument is developed and used to measure the entrepreneurial intention of a sample of 810 individuals from both countries. Findings indicate the existence of cultural differences between both countries in the determination of entrepreneurial intention. Spain showed personal attitude as the main antecedent, whereas in Senegal, it was perceived behavioral control. Moreover, the results appear to indicate that in contexts of less economic development, like Senegal, the role of the perceived social pressure (subjective norms) to carry out or not an entrepreneurial behavior loses its capacity to explain entrepreneurial intentions.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is a result of the project “Network for the Development of Activities for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship and R + D + I students and graduates of the Canaries and Senegal”, funded by European Regional Development Fund through Transnational Cooperation Programme 2007–2013. A previous version of this paper was presented at the Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy Conference (Valencia, July, 2013). The authors would like to express their acknowledgment to organizers and participants in this event, as well as to the International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal’s reviewers for their valuable comments in order to improve this work. Finally, we would also like to thank David Urbano, Ph.D. at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, for his suggestions after reading a previous draft of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Business Administration, University of La Laguna, Edificio de Económicas y Empresariales, C/ Camino de la Hornera, s/n - Campus de Guajara, 38071, La Laguna, Spain

    Francisco J. García-Rodríguez & Esperanza Gil-Soto

  2. Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain

    Inés Ruiz-Rosa

  3. Research Unit of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis, Senegal

    Papa Mamour Sene

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  1. Francisco J. García-Rodríguez
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  2. Esperanza Gil-Soto
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  3. Inés Ruiz-Rosa
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Correspondence to Francisco J. García-Rodríguez.

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García-Rodríguez, F.J., Gil-Soto, E., Ruiz-Rosa, I. et al. Entrepreneurial intentions in diverse development contexts: a cross-cultural comparison between Senegal and Spain. Int Entrep Manag J 11, 511–527 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-013-0291-2

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