Title: Antecedents of academics' entrepreneurial intentions - developing a people-oriented model for university entrepreneurship

Authors: Marc Grünhagen; Christine K. Volkmann

Addresses: Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany ' Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, 42097 Wuppertal, Germany

Abstract: Research on university entrepreneurship has identified a myriad of exogenous factors which directly influence the recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities in academe, the rate of spin-off and new venture creation, or other technology transfer activities. This paper zooms in on how important selection decisions taken by university scientists to start their own business or not may come about. We develop exogenous constructs influencing the formation of university scientists' entrepreneurial intentions and their cognitive antecedents in terms of personal attitudes, perceived norms, and behavioural control in a theory-of-planned-behaviour framework. Influence factors and hypotheses at three levels are suggested: the university-wide organisation, the scientist's local work environment (faculty/research group) and personal characteristics.

Keywords: university entrepreneurship; academic entrepreneurship; academic entrepreneurs; entrepreneurial venturing; entrepreneurial intentions; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; higher education; entrepreneurship education; personal attitudes; perceived norms; behavioural control; local work environment; personal characteristics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2014.062751

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2014 Vol.6 No.2, pp.179 - 200

Accepted: 18 Jun 2012
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article