Managerial and business scholars believe that one of the ways to deal with the ongoing economic crisis is linked to the emergence and diffusion of firms belonging to innovative sectors. In this view, a crucial role could be assigned to universities, more and more involved in the generation and transfer of technological knowledge, as well as in the direct creation of entrepreneurial activities. Hence, a plethora of investigations try to individuate the entrepreneurial intent of different categories of individuals, and the factors that impact on their intent. With this in mind, the paper investigates the entrepreneurial intent of a population of individuals which seized the opportunity to participate at a university-based start-up competition. Particularly, the empirical analysis verifies the intent of the participants at the main university-based start-up competition in Campania held in 2013. From this point of view this study is unique given that, within the entrepreneurial process, this population could be positioned beyond the intent but before the starting-up. Furthermore, these participants are considered high likely to start a hightech or innovative businesses, and include individuals with heterogeneous characteristics who decide in team to start a business. Since mid-1990s, start-up competitions finalized to new ventures creation have been increasingly supported by policy makers to favour the transition from aspiring entrepreneurs in operational new businesses. A growing role in this direction is played by universities, since it is believed that the university staff is more able than other categories of people to promoting innovative new ventures. Specifically, within the Theory of Planned Behaviour framework, the influence of two widely debated factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention is specifically examined. The findings of this survey show that competencies have a strong effect in favoring the entrepreneurial event while, contrary to other leading articles, the external environment does not appear to exert a clear influence on intent. These considerations have two relevant implications. On the one hand the role of universities as natural provider of skills is emphasized. On the other hand it is shown how the support promised by the universities themselves under these initiatives can help aspiring entrepreneurs to overcome the conditionings of the external environment. In the light of the above results, to feed the ambition of an higher effectiveness of start-up competitions, policies should influence subjective factors that lead to the entrepreneurial choice also through an improving of the environment, as well as encouraging universities to enlarge the competencies they usually provide to facilitate the transition from theory to practice.

La propensione alla creazione d’azienda dei partecipanti ad una start-up competition universitaria

Passaro Renato;Scandurra Giuseppe;Thomas Antonio
2016-01-01

Abstract

Managerial and business scholars believe that one of the ways to deal with the ongoing economic crisis is linked to the emergence and diffusion of firms belonging to innovative sectors. In this view, a crucial role could be assigned to universities, more and more involved in the generation and transfer of technological knowledge, as well as in the direct creation of entrepreneurial activities. Hence, a plethora of investigations try to individuate the entrepreneurial intent of different categories of individuals, and the factors that impact on their intent. With this in mind, the paper investigates the entrepreneurial intent of a population of individuals which seized the opportunity to participate at a university-based start-up competition. Particularly, the empirical analysis verifies the intent of the participants at the main university-based start-up competition in Campania held in 2013. From this point of view this study is unique given that, within the entrepreneurial process, this population could be positioned beyond the intent but before the starting-up. Furthermore, these participants are considered high likely to start a hightech or innovative businesses, and include individuals with heterogeneous characteristics who decide in team to start a business. Since mid-1990s, start-up competitions finalized to new ventures creation have been increasingly supported by policy makers to favour the transition from aspiring entrepreneurs in operational new businesses. A growing role in this direction is played by universities, since it is believed that the university staff is more able than other categories of people to promoting innovative new ventures. Specifically, within the Theory of Planned Behaviour framework, the influence of two widely debated factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention is specifically examined. The findings of this survey show that competencies have a strong effect in favoring the entrepreneurial event while, contrary to other leading articles, the external environment does not appear to exert a clear influence on intent. These considerations have two relevant implications. On the one hand the role of universities as natural provider of skills is emphasized. On the other hand it is shown how the support promised by the universities themselves under these initiatives can help aspiring entrepreneurs to overcome the conditionings of the external environment. In the light of the above results, to feed the ambition of an higher effectiveness of start-up competitions, policies should influence subjective factors that lead to the entrepreneurial choice also through an improving of the environment, as well as encouraging universities to enlarge the competencies they usually provide to facilitate the transition from theory to practice.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11367/53747
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