Title: Is entrepreneurial intention stable through time? First insights from a sample of French students

Authors: Jean Michel Degeorge, Alain Fayolle

Addresses: ESC Saint Etienne, Entrepreneurship Research Centre EM Lyon, Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, 2 rue de l'egalite 42530 Saint Genest Lerpt, France. ' Entrepreneurship Research Centre EM Lyon, Route Grignan 26230 Chamaret, France

Abstract: Currently in France, a high percentage of people over 18 claim that they wish to create a company. The younger they are, the stronger their desire to set up a business. Unfortunately, few of them end up creating a new firm. This research focuses on new business start-up intentions by students who have attended an entrepreneurial awareness course. Our research is based on an empirical study with a sample of people who attended a course in entrepreneurship between 1997 and 2004. Aside from the testing of an intention model (Ajzen, 1991), one of the main objectives of our research is to highlight the entrepreneurial intention level of these people after the course and the stability of this intention over a long period of time. For this exploratory study we used a questionnaire completed by a sample of young graduates in 2004. The data was then analysed. Results are shown and discussed.

Keywords: entrepreneurial courses; entrepreneurial intention; intention models; intention levels; entrepreneurship education; France; start-ups; entrepreneurial awareness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2008.015951

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2008 Vol.5 No.1, pp.7 - 27

Published online: 02 Dec 2007 *

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