Intention to start a business and entrepreneurship education programme: a pre- and post-programme research design

Purpose The effect of a study programme in entrepreneurship on intention to start a business has not received adequate attention by researchers using a pre- and post-programme research design. The purpose of this paper is to find evidence of entrepreneurship education programme on entrepreneurial intention in the context of a post-communist transition county. Design/methodology/approach Coarsened exact matching method is performed to achieve two similar groups: control (people who did not attend a study programme in entrepreneurship) and treated (those who attended) groups. Based on a set of covariates as identified in theory, 442 out of 528 members were matched. Hypotheses developed in a pre- and post-programme setting can be tested by using the ANCOVA. Members' scores on intention to start a business before the programme was introduced were used as the covariate in this analysis (pre-programme). Findings The analysis confirms a significant difference between the two groups on entrepreneurial intention after the study programme in entrepreneurship was completed (post-programme). The results suggest that entrepreneurial intention is affected by entrepreneurship education programme. Research limitations/implications This study offers useful insights for universities and individuals running a business. Aiming better results in terms of entrepreneurship, university, industry and government should align their efforts following a triple helix model. Originality/value This work adds value to the entrepreneurship literature in the context of post-communist transition country. Furthermore, it uses a rigour methodology that makes the comparison of control and treated groups possible

The effect of institutional constraints and business network on trust in government: An institutional perspective

Determinants of trust in institutions have been investigated by scholars mostly at individual level by using different theoretical perspectives. However, the ways in which changes in institutional environment affect business trust in government have not received adequate attention from researchers. The current paper sets out to contribute to existing literature by examining closely the role of business enabling policies, institutional constraints, and business networks on institutional trust in the context of a transition country like Albania. The study adopts an institutional perspective and the analysis is administrated on a firm-level data collection. Stratified sample technique was applied in selecting the respondents. To test the proposed linkages an ordinal regression was performed on an original data-set comprising 210 small and medium-sized enterprises. The results revealed that business enabling policies positively influence trust in government, whereas institutional constraints such as courts and corruption, and tax and labor regulations–related constraints negatively affect it. Hence, the higher the institutional constraints, the lower the institutional trust. Moreover, being a member of a business association diminished trust in government. Nevertheless, an interesting finding was that old firms in business association were less skeptic toward government as compared to the other ones. This paper offers useful insights for scholars into the linkage between trust in governmental agencies and entrepreneurship in institutional transformation contexts, and it unquestionably adds to the knowledge on transition countries. © 2019, Bucharest University of Economic Studies Publishing House. All rights reserved

Do size and age of small and medium-sized enterprises matter in corporate social responsibility?

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is affected by firm characteristics (firm age and size) or not. The study is conducted on a firm-level data collection through a questionnaire. The paper uses factor analysis to compose the CSR variable and nonparametric methods to examine the above associations in a sample size of 822 small and medium-sized enterprises (454 firms from Czech Republic and 368 firms from Slovakia). The results revealed that the CSR is not perceived similar in both countries leading to country differences. It was found no association between CSR and firm size. Hence, size do not matter in CSR for firms operating in both countries. However, firm age matters in CSR, especially for Slovak firms. Moreover, evidence showed that the older Slovak firms are less prone towards CSR. In the Czech sample, one indicator of CSR reflected positive relationship with firm age. The current study adds to the literature by offering insights on linking firm characteristics to CSR. By studying factors which influence CSR, the paper offers the possibility to better understand entrepreneurship mindset in the context of the Central Europe. © 2020, Centre of Sociological Research. All rights reserved

Important factors which predict entrepreneur's perception in business risk

This paper seeks to examine the role of factors originated from outside (economic, political, competitive environment and relationships) and within (entrepreneur's attitude) the organization on the business risk perceived by entrepreneurs. To test the hypothetical relationships, an ordinal regression with two link functions was applied on an original dataset of 641 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Slovakia and Czech Republic. The analysis revealed that not only economic factors can predict business risk, but along with them are political and competitive environments, relationship with supply chain actors and entrepreneur's attitude. Consistent with prior research, it is found that an unstable economic environment leads the business to expose themselves to business risk. Also, a friendly regulation framework and quality education contribute significantly to reducing the level of risk. The research triggers the interest of policymakers who design policies aimed at improving the business environment by reducing the level of risk that firms face in doing business. Also, this paper is useful for managerial perspective, since entrepreneur attitude was found to be a predictor of business risk. © Gentjan Çera, Jaroslav Belás, Zdeněk Strnad, 201

Explaining business failure through determinist and voluntarist perspectives

The aim of this study is to investigate factors that can prevent business failure by using determinist and voluntarist perspectives collectively. Both views implicate numerous theories such as institutional theory, industry life cycle theory, resource-based view, emotive approach etc. This research is conducted on a firm-level data collection through a survey. The current study uses principal component analysis and hierarchical logistic regression to test the proposed hypotheses in an original dataset of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Central Europe. The results demonstrated that facing institutional constraints and internal difficulties can lead to business failure. Firms in growth phase of business cycle are less likely to fail as compared to their counterparts in establishment phase. At the individual level, having entrepreneurial experience diminished the business failure. Moreover, failure is less prone to occur for bigger firms and those that operate as business-to-business (B2B). The current research contributes to enriching the literature of the field by offering evidence on how to avoid failure. This paper provides useful insights for both managers and policymakers who are responsible for designing policies and strategies to boost entrepreneurship. © 2019, Serbian Journal of Management.International Visegrad Fund [21820267

Exploring the association between trust and contracting in agribusiness sector: Evidence from Albania

This paper seeks to explore the association between trust in the main buyer and contract farming in the agribusiness sector. Despite numerous studies in this field, there is no consensus among scholars, which is the motivation behind undertaking the present study. The research is based on primary data collected through a structured survey in Albania (640 respondents) during December 2019 and January 2020. Several methods were used to examine the relationship between trust and contract farming, including factor analysis, a reliability test, and a non-parametric statistical technique. The results show that trust and contracting have a significant relationship in the context of the agribusiness sector. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that there is a positive correlation, meaning that those with a verbal or written contract exhibit higher trust than those without any prior agreement to sell the product. The scientific contribution of this study is that it presents further arguments and justifications to a controversial discussion and sheds light on a little-studied context such as Albania. © 2021, Centre of Sociological Research. All rights reserved

Financial capability and technology implications for online shopping

To promote online shoppers’ long-term interest, consumers need to have the knowledge and ability to avoid problems with financial issues. Financial capability helps to put consumers on the path to a sustainable financial future. However, previous studies only focused on financial capability in a financial context. To handle personal finance systematically and successfully in an online setting, this study extends an enhanced understanding of how financial capability on online consumer behaviour. Based on the data of 690 respondents collected by a face-to-face from eight main regions in Albania, this study employed principal components analysis and logistic regression in order to investigate the effect of consumers’ financial capabilities and technology use on the decision to purchase online. The outcome of this study firstly identifies six dimensions of financial capabilities, namely, digital banking usage, financial service risk, financial advice, payment risk, risk tolerance, and financial attitude. Secondly, the finding revealed that individuals who use smartphones and administrate a social media account, are more likely to involve in purchasing through online channels. Moreover, the decision to purchase online is more prone for those individuals who manifest high levels in digital banking usage, financial advice, prior bank experience and technology usage, and low levels in attitude towards payment risk and attitude towards risk tolerance. This paper offers useful insights concerning the determinants of online purchasing by combining individuals’ financial capability, technology and social media usage along with its demographic characteristics. In term of practical contribution, this study provides a useful model by incorporating for measuring and managing consumers’ financial capability to enhance their involvement and to reduce their cognitive dissonance in the online shopping context. This study also contributes to the accumulated knowledge and encourages consumers to use digital banking and consult their financial issues when purchasing online

The impact of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention. A quasi-experimental research design

There is a dearth of studies focusing on the relationship between entrepreneurship education (EE) and entrepreneurial intention (EI) in post-communist transition countries. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of EE on EI in the context of a Balkan country. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed in a quasi-experimental research design with a pre- and post-program setting. To ensure the comparability between two groups of individuals (those with formal EE and those with no formal EE), a propensity score matching (PSM) along with coarsened exact matching (CEM) methods were applied in an original dataset of 528 adults. The use of this triangulation method was intended to attain more robust results. Our research establishes the impact of EE upon EI, a finding which is consistent with previous studies conducted in developed countries. Thus, individuals with formal EE reflected a higher intention to start a business. These findings offer insights for government officials and leaders of higher education institutions responsible for developing curricula and policies aimed at motivating university graduates toward entrepreneurship upon graduation and or completion of an EE course of study

Improvement of the quality of business environment model: Case of the SME segment

The aim of this article is to define important factors which determine the quality of the business environment and construct a structural model of causal relationships between quality of business environment and its determinants in small and medium sized enterprises. This model was constructed on the basis of extensive empirical research. A questionnaire was designed and delivered to SMEs operating in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The sample consists of 641 enterprises from both countries. Data were evaluated using statistical methods such as confirmation factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The structural model showed very interesting findings. The most important factors, which determine the quality of business environment, are macroeconomic environment, monetary policy and interest rates and legal environment. In our model, we also pointed out the importance of political, social and technological factors. The research results pointed to the need to adjust the legislative environment in a more appropriate way, to minimize state bureaucracy and to improve media access to business environment assessment. These results are useful for the academic researchers in the area of entrepreneurship, policymakers, and non-profit institutions and organizations whose effort is to improve the business environment and boost entrepreneurship

Gender differences in perception of the university education quality as applied to entrepreneurial intention

The aim of this paper is to examine how university students perceive the selected attributes of university education quality in the context of their possible entrepreneurial activities and to explore the differences between genders in this regard. A total of 977 students from Czech and Slovak universities were surveyed. The Z-test for two population proportions was employed to test the hypotheses. The majority of university students positively perceived the quality of university education in general as well as the quality of education at their faculty. Approximately two thirds of the students in both countries agreed that the acquired knowledge may help them in their future entrepreneurship activities. Czech students perceived the quality of education more positively compared to their Slovak counterparts, despite the fact that they had lower entrepreneurial intention. This research shows there are differences in male and female students’ views. In both countries, female students perceived the quality of education more positively, whereas male students declared a statistically higher interest in entrepreneurial activity as compared to female students. The results of this paper could guide universities and policymakers in designing study programs in entrepreneurship responding better to gender needs so that to increase entrepreneurial participation. © Foundation of International Studies, 2018 and CSR