Determinant factors of entrepreneurial intention among university students in Brazil and Portugal

Abstract

This article aims to assess how personality traits, training and entrepreneurial education, social recognition, self-efficacy and entrepreneurial attitude influence entrepreneurial intention to create a new venture among university students in Portugal and Brazil. The additional effects of gender, country of origin, and family background are also evaluated. A conceptual framework based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour is proposed considering a set of hypotheses, which were tested via a survey with a cross-section design applied to a sample of 600 university students from both countries. The results led to the conclusion that personality traits, self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial attitude are strong predictors of entrepreneurial intention and that the effects of social recognition and country of origin are not significant.