Abstract

The demand for entrepreneurship to become more prevalent in societies worldwide highlights the need to better understand entrepreneurial intentions (EI). This is particularly important for African nations characterised by significant poverty and low income. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) this paper explores potential predictors of these intentions in two countries that differ considerably in their economic situation and culture. It chiefly focuses on SEI as socially desired, yet still unexplored phenomenon. The current study differentiates between social (SEI) and commercial (CEI) entrepreneurial intentions and explores their antecedents among university students in Namibia (n = 223) and Germany (n = 1326). The results suggest that TPB only poorly predicts SEI, particularly in Namibia. However, they support universally positive effect of perceived behavioural control on formation of CEI in both countries. This study contributes to emerging research into antecedents of SEI. It also highlights the need to test exploratory power of recognised theories such as TPB within different contexts and types of entrepreneurial activity.

摘要

全球社会对创业的需求变得更加普遍，这凸显了更好地理解创业意图（EI）的必要性。这对于以严重贫困和低收入为特征的非洲国家尤其重要。本文借鉴计划行为理论 (TPB)，探讨了经济状况和文化差异很大的两个国家中这些意图的潜在预测因素。它主要关注 SEI 作为社会渴望但仍未探索的现象。当前的研究区分了社会 (SEI) 和商业 (CEI) 创业意图，并探讨了纳米比亚 ( n  = 223) 和德国 ( n = 1326）。结果表明，TPB 对 SEI 的预测效果不佳，尤其是在纳米比亚。然而，他们支持感知行为控制对两国 CEI 形成的普遍积极影响。这项研究有助于对 SEI 前因的新兴研究。它还强调需要在不同背景和类型的创业活动中测试 TPB 等公认理论的探索能力。