Prof. Lars Kolvereid (Full Professor of entrepreneurship. Bodø Graduate School of Business, University of Nordland, Bodø, Noruega)
Celebrada el 21 Noviembre 2013, a las 12.30 horas.
Investigation on the moderating effect of the availability of employee positions on the configuration of intention to start a business in the post‐Soviet context. The research question is whether the perceived availability of employment opportunities moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents. The results indicate that the availability of satisfactory employment moderates the relationship between subjective norm (SN) and entrepreneurial intentions, so that the SN is even more important when employment opportunities are scarce. In contrast with this result, the availability of satisfactory employment opportunities was found not to have a moderating effect on the relationship between attitudes and intentions or the relationship between perceived behavioural control (PBC) and intentions. When jobs are scarce, the intention to start a business is more strongly influenced by the extent of support from relatives, friends and significant others. In such conditions, it is important that individuals are surrounded by people who are willing to support them if they engage in an entrepreneurial endeavour. Business training programmes aimed at improved attitudes and PBC are also expected to be effective in crises and in transitional economies. Thus, the availability of employee positions, as an alternative to an entrepreneurial career path, plays an important part in the configuration of the intention to start a venture. The attractiveness of alternative career options should be included in future studies of entrepreneurial intentions and endeavours.
