While scholars agree that institutions are critical for enabling and constraining entrepreneurial action, the mechanisms by which institutions shape individual entrepreneurs’ actions remain underdeveloped. Whereas a prior work focuses on the direct and moderating effects of institutions on entrepreneurial action, we propose that institutions also indirectly influence entrepreneurial action through their influence on the mental models of actors. To that end, we theorize an underexplored role of institutions: shaping three socio-cognitive traits (SCT)—opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and fear of failure—that influence entrepreneurial action. Using GEM data from 735,244 individuals in 86 countries, we test and find evidence that SCTs mediate the relationship between institutions and opportunity entrepreneurship. The social legitimacy of entrepreneurship exerts a weaker direct effect on opportunity entrepreneurship but a stronger indirect effect through the SCT channels relative to pro-market institutions. Our study thus provides more nuanced findings concerning the ways formal and informal institutions, as well as the direct and indirect effects of institutions, enable and constrain entrepreneurial action.

虽然学者们一致认为制度对于促成和限制创业行为至关重要，但制度塑造个体企业家行为的机制仍不完善。鉴于先前的工作侧重于制度对创业行为的直接和调节作用，我们提出制度也通过影响参与者的心智模型间接影响创业行为。为此，我们对制度未被充分探索的作用进行了理论化：塑造影响创业行为的三种社会认知特征 (SCT)——机会识别、创业自我效能和对失败的恐惧。使用来自 86 个国家/地区的 735,244 个人的 GEM 数据，我们测试并发现 SCT 调节制度与机会创业之间关系的证据。相对于亲市场制度，创业的社会合法性对机会创业的直接影响较弱，但通过 SCT 渠道的间接影响较大。因此，我们的研究提供了关于正式和非正式制度以及制度的直接和间接影响促进和限制创业行为的方式的更细微的发现。