Entrepreneurial Motivations and Intentions - An Approach to International Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The relevance of entrepreneurship is unquestionable in all economies for driving economic growth and job creation. Entrepreneurs are motivated to start a business either by opportunities or necessity and entrepreneurial intention is defined as the will an individual has to start a business. This research analyzes the behavior, attitudes and perceptions of individuals, that are reflected in their motivations and entrepreneurial intentions. In order to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial motivations and intentions, the study was divided into two chapters. The results of the first chapter show that opportunity seeking is the main motivation of entrepreneurs, regardless of the economic development level of their countries. This analysis suggests that countries aiming to promote entrepreneurship should develop policies that foster entrepreneurial opportunities. For this analysis, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database was used, in particular the Adult Population Survey (APS), for the period between 2010 and 2016 supported by multivariate statistical techniques, such as crosstab, linear regression, cluster and discriminant analysis. In the second chapter, on entrepreneurial intentions, statistical analysis show that the perception of perceived opportunities and capacities, the need for personal fulfillment, risk attitude and culture are characteristics that influence entrepreneurial intentions. In turn, innovation, from 2002 to 2016, had no effect on entrepreneurial intentions. In the literature, culture is referred as being a determinant in the individuals’ behavior. Our results show that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions influence motivations of opportunitymotivated entrepreneurs negatively, namely: power distance index, uncertainty avoidance index, indulgence versus restraint, fear of failure rate. However, indulgence versus restraint has a positive impact in opportunity entrepreneurship. For this study, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database was also used, in particular the Adult Population Survey (APS) between 2002 and 2016 and the Hofstede database for the year 2015 and these data was subject to linear regression, cluster and discriminant analysis. This study contributes a better understanding of the factors that influence the motivations and intentions of the entrepreneurs, which are important for politicymakers and researchers to design adequate measures.