Skip to main content
Log in

The impact of desirability and feasibility on entrepreneurial intentions: A structural equation model

  • Published:
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is general agreement that attitudes towards entrepreneurship are determinant factors to decide to be an entrepreneur. In this context, this research is focused on analyzing the relationship between desirability and feasibility on university student’s intentions to create a new firm in Catalonia. A structural equation model supported by Krueger & Brazeal’s Model was tested with different groups of students. The main results reveal most of university students consider desirable to create a new firm, although the perception of feasibility is not positive. Also, there is a statistical significant and positively relationship between credibility and the intention to create a new firm.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Entrepreneurship related majors or “ERM” are composed by Business Administration and Economics.

  2. Non entrepreneurship related majors or “Non-ERM” are related with experimental sciences (Biology, Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry), humanities and arts (History, Translation and interpreting, Philosophy and English Studies), health sciences (Medicine, Psychology and Veterinary medicine) and social science (Geography, Law, Sociology and Journalism).

  3. Engineering courses are integrated by technological science (Computer and Engineer).

  4. \( n = \frac{{z^{2} \alpha \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {\alpha 2}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} 2\;.\;{\text{N}}\;.\;{\text{pq}}}} {{e^{2} {\left( {N - 1} \right)} + z^{2} \alpha \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {\alpha 2}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} 2\;.\;{\text{pq}}}} \)

  5. We thank Claudio Cruz and Elizabeth Mayer (doctoral students of Autonomous University of Barcelona) their collaboration in the distribution and collection of the questionnaire.

References

  • Abbey, A. (2002). Cross-cultural comparison of the motivation for entrepreneurship. Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 14(1), 69–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acs, Z. J., & Audretsch, D. B. (1988). Innovation in large and small firms: An empirical analysis. The American Economic Review, 78(4), 678–690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audet, J. (2002). A longitudinal study of the entrepreneurial intentions of university students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Babson Kaufmann Entrepreneurship Research Conference, Boulder, CO (June).

  • Audet, J. (2004). L’impact de deux projects de session sur les perception et intentions entrepreneuriales d’etudiants en administration. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 17(3), 223–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birch, D. L. (1979). The job generation process, MIT programme on neighbourhood and regional change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockhaus, R. H. (1980). Risk-taking propensity of entrepreneurs. Academy of Management Review, 3, 442–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Busenitz, L., Gomez, C., & Spencer, W. (2000). Country institutional profiles: Unlocking entrepreneurial phenomena. Academy of Management Journal, 43(5), 994–1003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bygrave, W., & Hofer, C. W. (1991). Theorizing about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16(2), 13–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, L. (1996). Managing the transition: Employment to self-employment. Small Business and Enterprise Development, 3, 13–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crant, M. J. (1996). The proactive personality scale as a predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Small Business Management, 34(3), 42–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidsson, P. (1995a). Culture, structure and regional levels of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 7(1), 41–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidsson, P. (1995b). Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Rent IX Workshop, Piacenza Italy (November).

  • Drucker, P. F. (1985). Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forlani, D., & Mullins, J. W. (2000). Perceived risk and choices in entrepreneurs’ new venture decisions. Journal of Business Venturing, 15(4), 305–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gatewood, E. J., Shaver, K. G., & Gartner, W. B. (1995). A longitudinal study of cognitive factors influencing start-up behaviors and success in venture creation. Journal of Business Venturing, 10(5), 371–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genescà, E., & Veciana, J. M. (1984). Actitudes hacia la creación de empresas. Información Comercial Española, 611, 147–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirchhoff, B. A., & Phillips, B. D. (1988). The effect of firm formation and growth on job creation in the United States. Journal of Business Venturing, 3(4), 261–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koh, H. C. (1995). Factors associated with entrepreneurial inclination: An empirical study of business undergraduates in Hong Kong. Journal of Small Business Entrepreneurship, 12(2), 29–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolvereid, L. (1996). Organizational employment versus self-employment: Reasons for career choice intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 21(3), 23–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, N. F. (1993). The impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(1), 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, N. F., & Brazeal, D. (1994). Entrepreneurial potential and potential entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 18(3), 91–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, N. F., & Carsrud, A. L. (1993). Entrepreneurial intentions: Applying the theory of planned behavior. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 5(4), 315–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, N. F., Reilly, M. D., & Carsrud, A. L. (2000). Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. Journal of Business Venturing, 15, 411–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luque, T. (2000). Técnicas de análisis de datos en investigación de mercados. Madrid, Spain: Pirámide.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C. (1965). Need achievement and entrepreneurship: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 389–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. H., & Jones, F. F. (1999). Entrepreneurship in established organizations: The case of the public sector. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24(1), 71–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • North, D. C. (2005). Understanding the process of economic change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paramond, S. (2004). Attitude towards entrepreneurship in organizations. The Journal of Entrepreneurship, 13(1), 53–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, S. C. (2004). The economics of self-employment and entrepreneurship. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterman, N. E., & Kennedy, J. (2003). Enterprise education: Influencing students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 28(2), 129–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, P. B., Stimpson, D., Huefner, J. C., & Hunt, H. K. (1991). An attitude approach to the prediction of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 15(4), 13–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapero, A. (1982). Social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In C. A. Kent et al. (Eds.), The encyclopedia of entrepreneurship (pp. 72–89). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, K. G., & Scott, L. R. (1991). Person, process, choice: The psychology of new venture creation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16(2), 23–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, W. H., Carland, J. J., Carland, J. W., Watson, W. E., & Sweo, R. (2003). Entrepreneurial disposition and goal orientation: A comparative exploration of United States and Russian Entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business Management, 41(1), 27–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storey, D. J. (1994). Understanding the small business sector. London, UK: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, W. L., Long, A., & Robinson, P. (1996). Entrepreneurship attitude orientation and the intention to start a business. Journal of Small Business Management, 13(4), 50–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tkachev, A., & Kolvereid, L. (1999). Self-employment intentions among Russian students. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 11(3), 269–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urbano, D. (2006). New business creation in Catalonia: Support measures and attitudes towards entrepreneurship, Barcelona: Center for Business Innovation and Development—CIDEM of Generalitat de Catalunya.

  • Veciana, J. M., Aponte, M., & Urbano, D. (2005). University students’ attitudes towards entrepreneurship: A two countries comparison. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 1, 165–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walstad, W. B., & Kourilsky, M. L. (1998). Entrepreneurial attitudes and knowledge of black youth. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 23(2), 5–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wennekers, S., & Thurik, R. (1999). Linking entrepreneurship and economic growth. Small Business Economics, 13, 27–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Projects SEC2003-04770/ECO and SEJ2004-07242-C03-01/ECON (Ministry of Science and Technology – Spain) and EME 2005-41 (UAB – Generalitat de Catalunya).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Urbano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Guerrero, M., Rialp, J. & Urbano, D. The impact of desirability and feasibility on entrepreneurial intentions: A structural equation model. Int Entrep Manag J 4, 35–50 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-006-0032-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-006-0032-x

Keywords

Navigation