Agnieszka Pawlak. Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of young people a comparative study of Poland and Finland

Transcription

1 Agnieszka Pawlak Determinants of entrepreneurial intentions of young people a comparative study of Poland and Finland Determinanty intencji przedsiębiorczych młodzieży studium porównawcze Polski i Finlandii Summary of the doctor al dissertation PhD Advisor: Prof. dr hab. Aleksandra Gaweł Secondary PhD Advisor: dr Maciej Pietrzykowski Department of International Competitiveness Poznań 2018 Faculty of International Business and Economics al. Niepodległości 10, Poznań phone wgm@ue.poznan.pl

2 1. Justification for Selection of the Dissertation Topic The importance of entrepreneurship as a crucial phenomenon both from the economic as well as social point of view is more and more frequently emphasised. Entrepreneurial activity which is a professional carrier path alternative to permanent employment has an impact on economic development by creating jobs for subsequent persons, retaining workforce and intellectual capital within the borders of a given country, as well as through influencing economic development by increasing the domestic product indicator. Entrepreneurship is not, however, a phenomenon that happens in a single moment of time. It is viewed as the process of phases happening one after another; those phases, by using an innovative idea or emerging opportunities, make it possible to achieve success while being aware of possible risk. Such view is presented by: Shapero (1975b), Casson (1982), Ronstadt (1984), Hirsch and Peters (1992), Griffin (1997), or Kraśnicka (2002), as well as others. Although there is no single and commonly applicable definition of an entrepreneurial process, most authors agree with the statement that it begins when a thought connected with setting up one s business crosses a potential entrepreneur s mind (Gaweł, 2013a, p ). This intention is tantamount to entrepreneurial intent. It constitutes the first step in the process of discovering, creating and using emerging business opportunities. In spite of the fact that this issue has been widely discussed in academic literature since 1980s, it does not have a single definition which would be generally accepted in the academic world. The precursors of this subject matter include: Shapero and Sokol (1982), Bird (1988), Katz and Gartner (1988) as well as Ajzen (1991). The intent itself, i.e. the readiness of a person to behave in a particular manner, is a frequent subject of sociological and psychological research. Definitions existing in academic literature create characteristic continuum, presenting this category from the abstract dimension of willingness and desires to the sphere of making decisions connected with planning the commencement of one s own business activity. Many models of entrepreneurial intent have been developed on the basis of theoretical deliberations. The model by Ajzen (1991), based on the theory of planned behaviours, is one of the most popular ones. This concept assumes that human behaviour is rational, planned in advance and controlled, since before actions are performed, possible consequences of their occurrence are taken into consideration. On the other hand, entrepreneurial intent directly precedes a specific behaviour and occurs as a result of the interaction of three factors which are independent of each other: an approach to behaviour, 2

3 subjective norms, and the perceived control of behaviour. Apart from the Ajzen model, others may be found, indicating the influence of external factors on the occurrence of an entrepreneurial intent, making its appearance conditional on the impact of external stimuli and integrating both previous approaches. Numerous determinants of the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent have been taken into consideration in each of them. They include gender, culture which is a given person's background, or the way entrepreneurship is perceived by people from the closest surroundings. Entrepreneurial intent as the first stage of the entrepreneurial process becomes a subject which arouses interest not only in the academic society, but also among business practitioners and institutions which support entrepreneurship. Possessing knowledge of factors which have an impact on the decision to set up one s own company would make it possible to influence future entrepreneurs more effectively, and consequently, a larger percentage of people who ultimately embark on such a career path. As a result, the number of active economic entities would increase, which could translate into creating new jobs and improving some economic indicators. That is why each analysis of entrepreneurial intent and the determinants of its occurrence is of a great substantial and application value. That is why the subject of this dissertation is to analyse the entrepreneurial intent and factors influencing the occurrence thereof among young people, using a comparative study of Poland and Finland. Studies available within the framework of academic literature include a great deal of research carried out among students, whose purpose is to verify the level of entrepreneurial intent and specify the determinants of its occurrence. Selecting young people who attend secondary schools as a research group will make it possible to eliminate two aspects which are present in those studies and which make it more difficult to generalise the findings for a larger community. The first one is the occurrence of a situation where a person who is receiving university education is carrying out their own business activity at the same time. Defining respondents as secondary school students allows to verify the entrepreneurial intent among people who do not yet have an opportunity to take any actions in this scope. The second argument for adopting such a research group is to achieve a real reflection of the analysed phenomenon among various professional and social groups. A large percentage of persons who are small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are persons who graduated from secondary schools, often vocational secondary schools. 3

4 In addition, the choice of Poland and Finland has not been accidental. In accordance with the data presented by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Finland is among the countries of the most noticeable business opportunities. The country owes this position to the economy which is based on innovation, good infrastructure, and high level of education. This is why it is perceived as a country which creates good conditions for the development of entrepreneurship as well as a benchmark for other developing economies. Poland, which is characterised by entrepreneurial spirit and noticeable dynamics in the sector of small and medium-sized companies, can be included in such economies. In 2014, the country was fifth in the European Union in researching the willingness to start one s own business activity within the next 3 years. In the end, many people do not materialise these intentions because they do not see appropriate opportunities. In spite of this, a larger percentage of Poles than Finns declare willingness to become an entrepreneur in the future and believe that they have appropriate competences to put this plan into action. The selection of research regions in a given country (Wielkopolska and Uusima) was to ensure the possible comparability of findings. Both of these areas are characterised by above-standard level of entrepreneurship against the background of their countries; also, they constitute places of dynamic development of entrepreneurship. 2. Research Aim and Hypotheses The main aim of the doctoral dissertation is to create a model of entrepreneurial intent based on the determinants of its occurrence. The assumption of the dissertation is to verify the influence of internal and external factors on the appearance of entrepreneurial intent via its direct predecessors highlighted by Ajzen (1991) in the theory of planned behaviours. Such wording of the main aim results in adopting the specific aims described below; the fulfilment of these aims makes it possible to get closer to arriving at the basic reason for the existence of work. Specific aim 1 Developing a measure of entrepreneurial intent. Specific aim 2 Researching the declared level of entrepreneurial intent. Specific aim 3 Verifying factors that influence the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent. As a result of getting acquainted with the existing level of knowledge in the described academic field, as well as adopting the main aim that was presented earlier, the following 4

5 hypothesis was formulated: Internal and external factors indirectly influence entrepreneurial intent by its impact made on its predecessors. It is further detailed by six specific hypotheses: Specific hypothesis 1 Individualism determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Specific hypothesis 2 Statehood determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Specific hypothesis 3 Statehood determines the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Specific hypothesis 4 Entrepreneurial education determines the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Specific hypothesis 5 Entrepreneurial characteristics determine the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Specific hypothesis 6 Perception of entrepreneurship determines subjective norms in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. The correlation between the aims formulated in the dissertation and the hypotheses are presented below. Aims of the doctoral dissertation C Creating a model of entrepreneurial intent based on the determinants of its occurrence C1 Developing the measure of entrepreneurial intent C2 Analysing the declared level of entrepreneurial intent C3 Verifying factors which influence the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent H H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 Hypotheses of the doctoral dissertation Internal and external factors indirectly influence entrepreneurial intent by its impact made on its predecessors Individualism determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent Statehood determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent Statehood determines the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent Entrepreneurial education determines the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent Entrepreneurial characteristics determine the 5

6 Source: Self study H6 perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent Perception of entrepreneurship determines subjective norms in the scope of entrepreneurial intent 3. Research Methods, Sources, Temporal and Spatial Scope The dissertation is of a theoretical and empirical character, which is reflected in its structure. Critical analysis of literature, with the use of the deduction method, has been applied in the theoretical part of the dissertation. Materials published in books and periodicals, both in Polish and English, were used for its preparation. The research part is based on the hypothesis and deduction model which assumes the empirical verification of the previously formulated and adopted hypotheses. In order to verify whether it was justified to have adopted them, statistical quantitative methods were used (including comparative analysis and regression analysis), as well as the interpretation of obtained findings. Secondary and primary data was used to carry out research described in the dissertation. Secondary material indicators were obtained from Eurostat and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The selection of these two specific databases was conditional on the fact that indicators included therein refer to the economic sphere, as well as to entrepreneurship, its perception and the declared level of entrepreneurial intent. Their additional asset was a large number of countries that the data published there concerns; the data is comparable against each other; the availability of the data was also an asset. Average findings from the observance of the same phenomenon in other European countries constitute a background for comparing results obtained by the analysed countries. Primary data analysed in the dissertation comes from a survey which was carried out among secondary school students. 887 Polish students and 725 Finnish students took part in the survey. Paper survey questionnaires were used to carry out the research in Poland; they were given to students to fill in during their classes. Every time, before handing out the questionnaires, there was a short introduction presenting the aim of organising the research and providing instructions on how to correctly fill in the survey questionnaire. Electronic tools were used for collecting data from the Finnish students. The research was carried out during classes, under the teachers' supervision. 6

7 Data obtained as a result of the survey was first subjected to factor analysis in order to verify relations existing between the statements included in the survey questionnaire and the determinants of entrepreneurial intent used in the model. This allowed to define factors used as independent variables in the subsequent regression analysis. Accordingly, 13 factors were isolated for the Polish sample, which included: uncompromising, submissive, social and common-sense individualist (within the individualism determinant), care, duties and trust towards a country, taxes and democratic views (within the statehood determinant), positive and negative perception (within the entrepreneurship perception determinant), as well as entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial characteristics (for the determinants of the same names). On the other hand, 10 factors were isolated for the Finnish group - uncompromising, submissive, social and common-sense individualist (within the individualism determinant), state care, taxes and democratic views (within the statehood determinant), negative perception (within the entrepreneurship perception determinant), as well as entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial characteristics (for the determinants of the same names). Although the number of factors is different for the individual groups, representatives of all the determinants of entrepreneurial intent adopted in the model can be found in both cases, and the statements included in individual factors are extremely similar. This enabled to use factors developed at this stage of the analysis in subsequent procedures. The performed regression analysis consisted in verifying the impact of the factors isolated as a result of the factor analysis on separate direct intent predecessors, in accordance with the Ajzen's theory of planned behaviours for each group. In order to confirm that it was justified to have adopted such a procedure, the fourth analysis was carried out, which verified the impact of an approach towards behaviour, perceived control of behaviour and subjective norms on the entrepreneurial intent itself. Undertaking these actions made it possible to verify the correctness of the model and make a decision about rejecting the proposed hypotheses or decide that there were no grounds for rejecting them. An attempt to compare amounts obtained in the research is the final part of the dissertation. The spatial scope of the dissertation includes primarily Poland and Finland. It is connected with the fact the surveys were conducted among persons from these two countries. However, in order to be able to determine occurring trends and the level of the analysed phenomena in the scope of economic and entrepreneurial realities present in both these 7

8 countries, it was necessary to obtain a wider context as a benchmark. Secondary data for several other European countries was used for this purpose. This data presents the current entrepreneurial situation in individual economies as well as the approach of citizens in these countries to issues connected with entrepreneurship. The temporal scope of the literature review dates back to the end of the 18th century, when the first attempts at defining the phenomenon of entrepreneurship were made. However, the majority of literature used for preparing this dissertation includes works written after the year Secondary data describing the entrepreneurial situation refers to the years , and data presenting the approach towards entrepreneurship expressed by the citizens in the researched countries refers to the years The survey was carried out in Structure of the Dissertation The dissertation consists of five chapters. The first two chapters form the theoretical part. They present literary output on the subject in the scope of the discussed topic and constitute introduction for the subsequent parts of the dissertation. The third chapter includes the description of the methodology used for the conducted research. The two last chapters are of an empirical character and present the findings of research carried out on the primary and secondary material. The aim of the first chapter is to present the theoretical output in the scope of entrepreneurship as well as the models of entrepreneurial processes. There are many definitions of entrepreneurship in academic literature, formulated by various authors. However, there is no single definition considered generally applicable. In the first subchapter, attempts are made to systematically present the existing definitions of the described term. This was made based on the presentation of three theoretical trends singled out on account of the three most commonly emphasised aspects of entrepreneurship: innovation, risk-taking, and the use of emerging market opportunities. For the purposes of the dissertation, a definition was adopted which refers to the narrow understanding of this phenomenon. The premise for such a selection is the desire to define entrepreneurship in a way that is easy to understand for persons participating in the research. Therefore, entrepreneurship is perceived as a process of setting up and running a new business entity, which does not have to involve an innovative approach or noticing specific market 8

9 opportunities, but is connected with uncertainty concerning the entry into a market and the amount of obtained profits. The second subchapter contains the comparison of various models of entrepreneurial process. On the basis of this comparison it can be concluded that the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent is perceived as the first stage of the entire process, or as a factor which is required to start this process. The last subchapter contains factors which influence entrepreneurial process in the scope of three groups: human capital, financial capital, and social capital. The second chapter presents theoretical deliberations concerning entrepreneurial intent. The first subchapter includes the existing definitions of this term presented in a form of a definition continuum which assumes that entrepreneurial intent is specified from the abstract dimension of willingness and desires to the sphere of taking actions connected with plans made to start one's own business activity. The second subchapter presents factors described in academic literature that may have an impact on the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent. The factors include: gender, culture which is a given person's background, or the way entrepreneurship is perceived by people from the closest surroundings. The last subchapter is devoted to presenting entrepreneurial intent theories based on models singling out external and internal stimuli which are the conditions for the intent to occur, with the special consideration given to the theory of planned behaviours. This concept, formulated by Ajzen, assumes that human behaviour is rational, planned in advance and controlled, since before actions are performed, possible consequences of their occurrence are taken into consideration. On the other hand, entrepreneurial intent directly precedes a specific behaviour and occurs as a result of the interaction of three factors which are independent of each other: an approach to behaviour, subjective norms, and the perceived control of behaviour. The third chapter is devoted to describing the methodology of the conducted research. It starts with the presentation of research aims and hypotheses. Then there is the detailed description of the method used for the conducted research, both with reference to the secondary data from the Eurostat and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor databases, as well as the primary material obtained on the basis of the survey. The third subchapter contains information about indicators obtained from the secondary data, which illustrate the level of entrepreneurship and the perception of entrepreneurship; the indicators are analysed further in the dissertation. The next subchapter contains a characteristic of the research 9

10 group and the way of selecting individual entities for the empirical research. The chapter ends with presenting the structure of the survey questionnaire used for conducting the research. The fourth chapter presents data concerning entrepreneurship and its perception in Poland and Finland against the background of global phenomena. It starts with the description of current entrepreneurial trends across the world. The chapter includes information concerning setting up a company, the declared reasons for starting an entrepreneurial career, reasons for liquidating business entities, current entrepreneurial trends and actions aiming at supporting entrepreneurship, as well as the global community's general perception of persons who own a business. The chapter also includes recommendations which, when implemented, are to favour the development of entrepreneurial activity in subsequent years. The second subchapter contains the description of the historical and cultural conditions of the researched phenomenon in Poland and Finland. Subsequent parts are devoted to comparing the current entrepreneurial situation and how entrepreneurship is perceived by the citizens in the researched countries. In order to achieve a wider perspective, the data was compared with analogous indicators recorded in other European countries. The last chapter contains the results of the survey. The first subchapter includes the detailed description of the young people from Poland and Finland who participated in the research. The next subchapter describes the verification of the level of declared entrepreneurial intent expressed by the persons participating in the research. The third subchapter is devoted to estimating the parameters of the entrepreneurial intent model for the Polish and Finnish group. To do this, the factor analysis and the regression analysis were used for both groups. The next subchapter contains the presentation of the entrepreneurial intent models of the young Poles and Finns, the comparison thereof, and verification of previously proposed research hypotheses. The fifth subchapter is devoted to drawing conclusions made on the basis of the concluded research and comparing the results obtained from the analyses of the primary and secondary data. Additionally, this part includes the verification of the application quality of the developed models, by using factors determining the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent based on the secondary data in the entrepreneurial intent equations obtained as a result of the conducted regression analysis. 10

11 The last subchapter contains recommendations for further research, which could supplement or expand the material included in the dissertation. 5. Results of the Conducted Research Verification of the proposed hypotheses constitutes the result of the conducted analyses: There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 1 which states that individualism determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. This correlation has been confirmed by the impact of the following factors on the approach towards behaviour: common-sense, uncompromising and social individualist, in case of the Polish sample and uncompromising, common-sense, social and submissive individualist for the Finnish group. There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 2 which states that statehood determines an approach towards behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Such effect has been observed in the Polish group for the following predictors: taxes, democratic views, state duties and care, as well as democratic views in reference to the Finns. There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 3 concerning the impact of statehood on the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. This thesis has been confirmed by recording an impact made on the perceived control of behaviour among the Poles by elements such as trust towards the state, taxes, state duties and care, as well as state care and democratic views in case of the Finnish group. There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 4 which states that entrepreneurial education determines the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. This factor influenced the perceived control of behaviour in case of both researched groups. There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 5 which states that entrepreneurial characteristics determine the perceived control of behaviour in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. Both in case of the Finnish group as well as the Polish group, the influence of this predictor on the perceived control of behaviour has been recorded. 11

12 There are no grounds for rejecting the specific hypothesis 6 concerning the impact of the perception of entrepreneurship on subjective norms in the scope of entrepreneurial intent. This correlation has been reflected in determining subjective norms by the positive perception of entrepreneurship in case of the Polish group and the negative perception of entrepreneurship in case of the Finnish group. Positive verification of all the above auxiliary hypotheses resulted in the lack of grounds for rejecting the main hypothesis of the dissertation, which states that internal and external factors indirectly influence entrepreneurial intent by its impact made on its predecessors. The internal factors included individualism and entrepreneurial features, and the external factors included statehood, entrepreneurial education and the perception of entrepreneurship. The comparison of the obtained results and the developed models of both research groups enables to formulate the following observations: Polish people perceive entrepreneurs more as independent persons rather than those who subordinate actions that they take to the expectations of people who surround them. Among the Finns, the advantages of being an entrepreneur are noticed by people who are independent, whereas in Poland having such a feature does not determine whether an entrepreneurial career is perceived as a profitable one. In Poland, people who are more likely to set up a company are those who want to take future into their own hands, whereas in Finland such persons are those with a strong sense of independence and a need to compete with others. Support provided to future entrepreneurs by the state has a greater impact on the willingness to set up a new business entity in Poland than in Finland. Polish people are highly aware of the necessity to have appropriate substantive knowledge in order to become an entrepreneur. They believe that entrepreneurial education has a greater impact on entrepreneurial intent than having a set of appropriate personality traits. Both Poles as well as Finns think that not everyone can run their own company. Certain personality predisposition is needed in order to follow such a career path. 12

13 Polish people think that people who become entrepreneurs are those who are sceptical to whether they could use the help of the state if they found themselves in a difficult life situation. In case of both researched groups, how entrepreneurship is perceived by persons from the closest surrounding is of the greatest importance for the fact whether an entrepreneur career will be pursued in the future. In Poland, carrying out a business activity is perceived as a fairly common way of pursuing one's professional career. It can be pursued by persons who are predisposed for this to a certain extent and have made appropriate theoretical preparations in this scope. On the other hand, Finns perceive entrepreneurs as a certain elite group that only few people join. They possess appropriate personality traits and are distinguished by their independence and individualism. That is why people who run their own companies enjoy such a high social prestige in this country. The assessment of the methodical correctness of applied calculations as well as the application quality of the developed models was made by comparing the compatibility of the direction and dynamics of entrepreneurial intent changes, obtained with the use of two methods. The first value was read from the GEM report, and the other one was calculated by inserting individual factors that determine the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent, derived from secondary data, into an equation created at the stage of conducting the regression analysis of primary material. Although there was no full compatibility between the direction and dynamics of entrepreneurial intent changes obtained with the use of these two methods, it could be claimed that there is a certain application possibility of models developed in the dissertation. The results of the research carried out on the primary material were also compared with the results of the secondary material analysis, which gave the following results: In both research projects, the amount of declared entrepreneurial intent was higher with reference to the Polish group. Those results were also positively correlated to data concerning a greater amount of business entities set up every year in this country, and with the level of the indicator concerning the perception of entrepreneurship as a desired professional career. 13

14 High level of measure regarding the perception of chances to run one's own company, combined with the low level of declared entrepreneurial intent reported by Finns confirmed the assumption that although there are appropriate conditions for pursuing an entrepreneurial career in this country, ultimately few people decided to do it. It was also confirmed by the level of perceiving entrepreneurship as a desired professional career, declared by this country's citizens. It justified a high impact of individualism on the occurrence of entrepreneurial intent in the Finnish model, which could not be observed with reference to research done on the Polish group. The low level of support received from the state for entrepreneurial activities, expressed by the Poles, coincided with inversely related impact made on the development of entrepreneurial intent by a factor concerning trust towards the state. It was not in contradiction to the previous conclusions concerning the fact that in Poland people who become entrepreneurs are those who want to take future into their own hands. With reference to the Finnish group, there was a certain divergence between the conducted research projects in the scope of impact of taxes on the willingness to set up one's one company. In case of data derived from GEM, a strong correlation could be observed between those two factors, and in the survey taxes turned out to be an element which has not been included in the model due to the lack of statistical significance. Another difference in the results of both research projects concerned entrepreneurial education as an incentive to set up new businesses in case of the Polish group. This could result from the fact that Polish people perceive appropriate substantive preparation for pursuing such a professional career as very important; however, the state does not meet their expectations towards this aspect in the scope which would be satisfactory for them. The correlation concerning the impact of education and entrepreneurial traits on the development of entrepreneurial intent with reference to both researched groups could be explained with the use of GEM data referring to the fact of pursuing entrepreneurial activity out of necessity and fear of failure. In Poland, the entrepreneurial intent of persons who often set up a company because they did not 14

15 see any professional alternatives, was shaped more by appropriate education which could have been gained at any stage of life, rather than by possessing inherent personality traits. On the other hand, in case of Finns who usually became entrepreneurs by choice, the belief of being specifically predisposed for running their own business was of a greater importance. Another discrepancy appeared with reference to the level of impact that the perception of entrepreneurship has on the willingness to pursue such a career path. In GEM data, this factor had a greater influence on entrepreneurial intent of the Finns, and the results of the analysis of material gathered during the survey suggested the existence of a reverse trend. However, both sources confirmed the high social status of entrepreneurs in Finland; in Poland, such status was at a much lower level. 6. Recommendations and Directions of Further Research It is extremely difficult to directly compare the results of the conducted research with the existing data concerning economic indicators and entrepreneurial situation. The reason for this is their fragmentary nature, concerning both the scope and time of the conducted research. Therefore, it is suggested that the research carried out in the dissertation is expanded by: a wider territorial scope - carrying out analogous research among representative groups of young secondary school students in other countries, in order to search for certain trends and create groups of countries with similar characteristics, more detailed verification and analysis of researched aspects - conducting in-depth interviews with some persons who participated in the current research, or conducting interviews with the so-called "new entrepreneurs", i.e. persons managing their own companies that have existed on the market for no longer than 3.5 years, in order to find out what made them choose such a career path, changing a research group to persons with different level of education, who have been entering the labour market for the first time, in order to find out about their declared level of entrepreneur intent and what kind of stimuli could persuade them to take a decision to start their own business activity. 15

16 7. Contents Introduction The Essence of Entrepreneurship Defining entrepreneurship Models of Entrepreneurial Process Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Process Human Capital Social Capital Financial Capital Entrepreneurial Intent Defining Entrepreneurial Intent Conditions of Entrepreneurial Intent Gender as a Determinant of Entrepreneurial Intent Cultural Differences in Explaining Entrepreneurial Intent Perception of Entrepreneurship by Family and Social Environment Other Factors Shaping Entrepreneurial Intent Theories of Entrepreneurial Intent Theory of Planned Behaviours Models of Entrepreneurial Intent Based on Internal Stimuli Models of Entrepreneurial Intent Based on External Stimuli Models of Entrepreneurial Intent Based on the Coexistence of Internal and External Stimuli Methodology of Entrepreneurial Intent Research Research Aims and Hypotheses Entrepreneurial Intent Research Methods Description of Secondary Data of Entrepreneurial Intent Research Characteristics and the Method of Selecting a Researched Sample in Entrepreneurial Intent Survey Construction of the Survey Entrepreneurship and its Perception in Poland and Finland against the Background of Global Trends

17 4.1. Global Entrepreneurial Trends Historical and Cultural Conditions for Entrepreneurship in Poland and Finland Current Entrepreneurial Situation in Poland and Finland Citizens' Approach to Entrepreneurship in Poland and Finland Entrepreneurial Intent of Secondary School Students Description of Young People from Poland and Finland Participating in the Research The Level of Young People's Entrepreneurial Intent in Poland and Finland Estimating the Parameters of Entrepreneurial Intent Model on the Polish and Finnish Sample Factor Analysis for the Polish Group Factor Analysis for the Finnish Group Regression Analysis for the Polish Group Regression Analysis for the Finnish Group Verification of Hypotheses and the Entrepreneurial Intent Model for the Polish and the Finnish Group Comparing Research Findings of the Primary and Secondary Data for the Polish and the Finnish Group Recommendations Concerning Further Research. 186 Conclusion 188 Bibliography List of Websites List of Figures 210 List of tables List of Diagrams Appendix 1 List of Secondary Schools in Wielkopolska Province in Appendix 2 - Survey Questionnaire