Title: Impact of incubators on social entrepreneurship intention: an empirical study related to Tunisia

Authors: Ines Ben Chikha; Anis Jarboui

Addresses: Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of Sfax-Tunisia, LARTIGE Laboratory, University of Sfax, Airport Road km 4, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia ' Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management of Sfax-Tunisia, LARTIGE Laboratory, University of Sfax, Airport Road km 4, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

Abstract: In recent years, social entrepreneurship is considered as a solution to minimise social, environmental and economic problems. In order to know how to stimulate social entrepreneurship, the current study focuses on the formation of social entrepreneurial intention based on partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Our empirical research, which utilises 209 Tunisian who pursue incubators programs, showed that the incubators positively influence the perception of the desirability and feasibility. Indeed, the awakening positively influences the desirability. The network integration, the availability of resources, the learning and the psychological support have a positive impact on the feasibility. In addition, the desirability and feasibility positively act on the social entrepreneurial intention. Therefore, it is important to promote the incubators that participate in boosting social entrepreneurship since they can act in the promotion of this kind of entrepreneurship and in the emergence of social projects by acting on the entrepreneurial intention.

Keywords: social entrepreneurship; social entrepreneurship intention; incubators; awakening; network integration; availability of resources; learning; psychological support; partial least squares structural equation modelling; PLS-SEM; Tunisia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSEI.2017.089471

International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2017 Vol.4 No.4, pp.305 - 323

Received: 25 Oct 2016
Accepted: 26 May 2017
Published online: 26 Jan 2018 *

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