Journal of East China Normal University(Educational Sciences) ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (2): 81-92.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.02.007

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Research on the Influencing Factors of College Students’ Entrepreneurial Intention: A Cross-country Comparative Study from the Perspective of Institutional Theory

Weihui Mei, Weiyi Zhang   

  1. College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
  • Accepted:2022-09-02 Online:2023-02-01 Published:2023-01-18

Abstract:

Entrepreneurial intention is not only an important predictor of college students’ entrepreneurial behavior, but also a hot issue in higher education and entrepreneurial education research at home and abroad. Previous studies mainly explore the influencing factors of entrepreneurial intention from individual factors in a specific country. Cross-country research on the impact of institutional environment for entrepreneurship on college students’ entrepreneurial intention is still in its infancy. Based on institutional theory, this study uses the data of ‘Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’ and ‘Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey’ to investigate the impact of regulatory, normative and cognitive institutions on the entrepreneurial intention of college students in various countries at the time of graduation and five years later. The study finds that both the cognitive and the normative institution have a significant positive correlation with the entrepreneurial intention of college students, especially the impact of entrepreneurship education at the higher education stage; the role of the regulatory institution on the entrepreneurial intention of college students is more complex. It is suggested to vigorously promote the high-quality development of entrepreneurship education at different stages, create entrepreneurship-friendly cultural environment inside and outside the schools, and reconsider the effectiveness of some accustomed but unverified entrepreneurship policies for college students’ entrepreneurship.

Key words: regulatory institution, normative institution, cognitive institution, entrepreneurial intention, cross-country comparison