Title: Entrepreneurial intentions of university students: an international comparison between African, European and Canadian students

Authors: Étienne St-Jean; Aziz Nafa; Maripier Tremblay; Frank Janssen; Jacques Baronet; Christophe Loué

Addresses: Research Institute on SMEs, University of Québec at Trois Rivières, 3351, boul. des Forges, Trois-Rivières, Québec, G9A 5H7, Canada ' Centre de Recherche en Économie Appliquée pour le Développement (CREAD), Division Firmes et Économie Industrielle, BP 187, Rostomia, Bouzaréah, Alger, Algeria ' Faculté des sciences de l'administration, Université Laval, Pavillon Palasis-Prince, Local 1523, Québec, G1V 0A6, Canada ' Louvain School of Management, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place des Doyens, 1, 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium ' Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boul. de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada ' Novancia, 3 rue Armand Moisant, Paris, France

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to compare the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in North Africa (Algeria) with those of students in Canada and Europe (France and Belgium), and to examine differences with regard to psychological, sociocultural and economic factors influencing these intentions. Analyses on the sample as a whole confirm the relevancy of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) proposed by Ajzen (1991). When we differentiate among cultural groups, results were fairly similar for Canadian and European students. However, no TPB elements were significant for the Algerian students, or more significant than the control variables. We discuss the need to consider cultural factors to explain entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, given the socioeconomic climate in Algeria, we hypothesise that among Algerian university students, entrepreneurship is motivated by necessity rather than opportunity.

Keywords: youth entrepreneurship; university students; entrepreneurial intentions; international comparisons; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; self-efficacy; attitudes; subjective norms; cultural differences; Algeria; France; Belgium; Canada; young entrepreneurs; socioeconomics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2014.062878

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2014 Vol.18 No.2/3, pp.95 - 114

Accepted: 17 Jan 2014
Published online: 18 Jul 2014 *

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