Impact of childhood experiences on the development of ...74978/...ness of the importance of entrepreneurship and new venture creation. At a national level, entrepreneurial activity

231ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION November 2005

Impact of childhood experienceson the development ofentrepreneurial intentions

Judy Drennan Jessica Kennedy and Patty Renfrow

Abstract Fostering entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture hasbecome a key policy priority for governments To encourage entrepreneur-ship and an entrepreneurial culture however there is a need tounderstand the factors that influence and shape individualsrsquo intentions tostart a business This study extends models of entrepreneurial intentionsby investigating the influence of various childhood-experience factors onthe perceived feasibility and desirability of starting a business A struc-tured questionnaire was completed by over 1000 university students andanalysed using regression analysis Results indicated that perceptions ofentrepreneurship were influenced not only by parental ownership of abusiness but also by a difficult childhood and frequent relocation

Keywords entrepreneurial intentions childhood experiences perceivedfeasibility perceived desirability

Dr Judy Drennan is with the School of Advertising Marketing and Public Relations Faculty ofBusiness Queensland University of Technology 2 George Street Brisbane QLD 4001 AustraliaTel +61 7 3864 5308 Fax +61 7 3864 1811 Email jdrennanquteduau Dr Jessica Kennedy iswith the Faculty of Business and Law Central Queensland University Dr Patty Renfrow is with theBusiness School University of Queensland

In the last two decades there has been growing aware-ness of the importance of entrepreneurship and newventure creation At a national level entrepreneurialactivity contributes to prosperity economic growth andrenewal (Hindle and Rushworth 2000) In regionalareas entrepreneurship is encouraged to overcomeregional disparities in wealth and to solve local employ-ment problems (Nolan 2003) It is also viewed as asolution for problems of impoverished communities andethnic groups (Logan Alba and Stulus 2003) Indeedfostering entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurialculture has become a key policy priority for govern-ments (Luthje and Franke 2003)

It is recognized that to start and manage a newventure successfully requires both human and environ-mental resources (Baum Locke and Smith 2001)Venture capitalists have traditionally placed more

emphasis on the personal characteristics of entrepre-neurs than on other factors in assessing new ventures(Shepherd 1999) Moreover recent research hasconfirmed that in the business start-up process humanresources are more important than environmental factors(Rotefoss and Kolvereid 2005) Indeed it is recom-mended that government policies and programmesshould be directed towards increasing awareness ofentrepreneurial career possibilities as well as providingthe opportunity to gain entrepreneurial experience(Rotefoss and Kolvereid 2005)

A number of programmes have been put in place inan attempt to change the attitudes of young peopletowards entrepreneurship and to encourage entrepre-neurial activity These include various entrepreneurshipand enterprise education programmes and business-plan competitions The people who engage in these

232

Impact of childhood experiences on entrepreneurship intentions

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION November 2005

programmes are often those who already have aninterest in starting their own businesses (Peterman andKennedy 2003) and this interest may have developedearly in childhood For example it is well establishedthat young people whose families own their ownbusinesses are more likely to intend to start their ownbusiness (Krueger 1993) An understanding of thefactors that influence and shape individualsrsquo intentionsto start a business is important if governments aresuccessfully to develop policies and programmes toencourage entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurialculture

To appreciate more fully the path to entrepreneurshipndash defined as business start-ups ndash this paper explores thedeterminants of entrepreneurial intentions specificallyfocusing on the impact of childhood experiences onattitudes towards business start-ups

Literature review and hypothesisdevelopment

Early research into the factors that influence individualsrsquoentrepreneurial activities focused on personality traitssuch as the need for achievement (McClelland 1961)locus of control risk-taking propensity (Brockhaus1980) and tolerance of ambiguity (Schere 1982) Whileproviding some insight into the process of entrepreneur-ship the trait approach was criticized because of poormethodological design failure to agree on a definition ofentrepreneurship and inconsistent findings (Gartner1989) It was debated whether trait theory should beabandoned or whether better quality studies wouldproduce more consistent findings (Carland Hoy andCarland 1988) At the same time more comprehensivemodels of entrepreneurship focused attention on entre-preneurial behaviours and attitudes (Carland et al 1988)

The development of intentions models (Fishbein andAjzen 1975) has offered researchers more comprehen-sive frameworks for explaining and predictingentrepreneurial behaviours Intentions models ofentrepreneurship are grounded in the field of socialpsychology (Ajzen 1985 Triandis 1980) in whichintentions have been identified as the most lsquoimmediateand importantrsquo antecedent of behaviour (Abraham andSheeran 2003) such as starting onersquos own business(Krueger Reilly and Carsrud 2000) Attitudes in turnhave been shown to explain around 50 of variance inbehaviour (Autio et al 1997) Intentions thus serve asimportant mediating variables between the act ofstarting a business and potential exogenous variables

Several conceptual models of entrepreneurial inten-tions have been developed to assist our understanding ofthe factors and influences that shape individualsrsquointentions to start a business (Autio et al 1997 Bird

1988 Davidsson 1995 Shapero 1985 Shapero andSokol 1982) There is little variation among the differ-ent approaches taken in these models and also littledifference in the amount of variance in intentionsexplained by the various models (Krueger et al 2000)In this research we have adopted the Shapero model(Shapero and Sokol 1982 Shapero 1985) asoperationalized by Krueger (1993) In this modelintentions are a function of the perceived feasibility andthe perceived desirability of starting a business andexogenous variables influence intentions only throughthese mediating variables

The use of intentions models is now well accepted inthe literature and researchers have turned their attentionto developing richer more comprehensive models topredict the intention to start a business In particularthese models seek to identify factors that may indirectlyaffect entrepreneurial intentions by influencing keyattitudes or perceptions such as desirability and feasibil-ity These factors include life situations such asunemployment (Lawrence and Hamilton 1997) andfamily commitments (Hisrich and Brush 1984) per-sonal-background variables such as prior exposure to afamily business (Autio et al 1997 Davidsson 1995Krueger 1993) a difficult childhood (Ohe and Ohe1996) and frequent relocation as a child (Davidsson1995 Reynolds 1995) While a family business back-ground has received considerable attention in theliterature the impact of other childhood-experiencevariables has received less attention especially inconceptual models of entrepreneurial intentions Thefocus in this paper is on childhood-experience factorsthat may influence entrepreneurial intentions

Childhood experiences

The decision to start a business can be triggered by aparticular situation such as unemployment or familycommitments (Bird 1988 Greenberger and Sexton1988 Learned 1992 Shapero and Sokol 1982) Thedecision can also be the result of onersquos life course(Reynolds 1995) andor cumulative events over time(Learned 1992) such as childhood experiences (Coxand Jennings 1995 Ohe and Ohe 1996) and later workexperiences

Family business background

One variable that has received considerable attention inthe literature is prior exposure to a family businessResearch has found that entrepreneurs often come fromhomes where the mother or father was self-employed(Crant 1996 Dyer 1992 Roberts and Wainer 1968)The parental role models andor exposure to self-employment are considered to influence entrepreneurialattitudes and behaviour (Dyer and Handler 1994)



Exposure to entrepreneurship such as a family businesshas been incorporated into entrepreneurial-intentionsmodels (Krueger 1993 Shapero and Sokol 1982)which posit that exposure to a family business indirectlyinfluences entrepreneurial intentions through perceiveddesirability and feasibility The impact of the familybusiness may depend on both the quantity and quality ofthe exposure Kruegerrsquos (1993) study of universitybusiness students found that the breadth of prior expo-sure to entrepreneurship (such as parents starting abusiness) was positively related to perceived feasibilityand the positiveness of prior exposure was positivelyrelated to perceived desirability In a study of secondary-school students Peterman and Kennedy (2003) reportedthat positiveness of experience was related to perceiveddesirability but in contrast to the Krueger findingsbreadth of experience was not related to perceivedfeasibility Because of these inconsistent results we testthe following hypotheses

H1 Family business experience is related to perceiveddesirability of starting onersquos own business

H2 Family business experience is related to perceivedfeasibility of starting onersquos own business

H3 Positiveness of family business experience is relatedto perceived desirability of starting onersquos own business

H4 Positiveness of family business experience is relatedto perceived feasibility of starting onersquos own business

Difficult childhood

Less attention has been paid to other childhood experi-ences that may shape entrepreneurial attitudes and

behaviours The childhood experiences of entrepreneurshave been found to be difficult characterized by pov-erty insecurity andor neglect (Collins and Moore1964) and personal tragedies such as parentsrsquo divorce aparentrsquos death family financial difficulties andorserious illness (Cox and Jennings 1995 Ohe and Ohe1996) Clinical studies of entrepreneurs suggest they areoften affected by poverty poor relationships with theirfathers strong controlling mothers and feelings ofrejection and remoteness which result in hostility guiltanger and suspicion of people in positions of authority(Kets de Vries 1976 1977 1996) Difficult childhoodsare also posited to increase onersquos self-reliance which inturn increases onersquos ability to cope with the risks anduncertainties of self-employment (Scherer et al 1989)A study comparing managers and entrepreneurs hasconfirmed that managers and entrepreneurs do indeedtend to differ in their family background Entrepreneurshave a much poorer relationship with their fathers thanmanagers greater identification with their work morewillingness to take risks and a higher level ofinitiative and independence (Malach-Pines et al2002)

The difficult-childhood variable has not previouslybeen incorporated in intentions models Our hypothesestherefore are

H5 Difficult childhood experiences are positivelyrelated to perceived desirability of starting onersquos ownbusiness

H6 Difficult childhood experiences are positivelyrelated to perceived feasibility of starting onersquos ownbusiness

Figure 1(a) Entrepreneurial-intentions model

234



Frequent relocation

An individualrsquos self-reliance and adaptability to newsituations are related to entrepreneurship and suchresilience and adaptability are associated with radicalchange during onersquos life Moving location frequently isseen as one aspect of radical change (Davidsson 1995)Reynolds (1995) found nascent entrepreneurs were lesslikely to have lived their whole lives in the same geo-graphical area and more likely to have lived in severalplaces during their lives Davidsson (1995) relatedfrequent moves to general attitudes related to changeachievement money (negative) and autonomy as well asdomain attitudes of societal contribution and know-howThese findings suggest that frequent relocation shouldinfluence both perceived desirability and perceivedfeasibility

H7 Frequent relocation is positively related to perceiveddesirability of starting onersquos own business

H8 Frequent relocation is positively related to perceivedfeasibility of starting onersquos own business

Figure 1(a) presents the entrepreneurial-intentionsmodel incorporating the additional childhood-experiences factors discussed above

Research design and methodologyIn this study we focus on undergraduate studentsenrolled in introductory courses in their first year ofuniversity studies in Australia University students arewell positioned for our purpose ndash close to their child-hood experiences yet looking towards futureemployment and careers In the transition to universitystudy they have considered their future career prospectsin some depth Moreover university students aretypically in their late teens a time in life that is consid-ered very important in shaping their attitudes andtherefore they constitute an ideal group in which tostudy attitudes towards entrepreneurship The sample istherefore representative of citizens who undertaketertiary education and typically start the knowledge-intensive businesses that are so important in developedeconomies

Students attending major first-year classes from sixout of seven faculties at the university in the first andsecond semesters of 2002 completed the questionnairesWith the approval and cooperation of lecturers re-searchers distributed the questionnaire during classsessions Most students completed and returned themduring the sessions Participation was voluntary and1075 students completed and submitted the question-naire resulting in a response rate of just over 60Table 1 presents the distribution of students acrossfaculty disciplines

Table 1 Respondents

Discipline Female Male Total

Arts 83 23 106Business economics and law 190 166 356Social science 60 21 81Engineering 18 70 88Science 167 80 247Health science 93 27 120IT 12 24 36Total 623 411 1034

The survey consisted of a six-page structured question-naire Questions on entrepreneurial intentions perceivedfeasibility of starting a business and perceived desirabil-ity of starting a business were based on previouslypublished studies by Davidsson (1995) and Krueger(1993 2000) The questions on childhood experiencewere developed to gain an understanding of whetherrespondents perceived that their early life had beendifficult both generally and in comparison with theirpeers We measured frequent relocation by asking aboutthe actual number of cities or towns in which respond-ents had lived as intercity transfers (as opposed to localrelocation) would disrupt social relationships andchallenge the individual to adapt to a new environmentExposure to family business was measured in terms ofparents starting their own business and the positivenessof the experience

Response options included five-point Likert scalesand appropriate categorical and dichotomous scales Theitems used in the questionnaire for this analysis arelisted in Table 2 together with information about theirsource and the reliability of the measures

Analysis and results

A standard multiple regression analysis was conductedbetween studentsrsquo intentions to start up their ownbusiness as the dependent variable and perceivedfeasibility and perceived desirability as the independentvariables As reported in Table 3 the analysis revealedthat perceived desirability and feasibility contributedsignificantly to predicting the intention to start up abusiness In total 51 of the variance was explained byperceived desirability and perceived feasibility Thisanalysis confirmed the usefulness of the model inexplaining intentions in this group of universitystudents

Having established the applicability of the model foruniversity students the childhood-experience variablesof a family business background positiveness of familybusiness experience a difficult childhood and frequentrelocation were included in regression analyses to testtheir impact on perceived desirability and feasibility



Table 2 Questionnaire items

Entrepreneurial intentions (Davidsson 1995 Cronbach alpha = 080)Have you ever thought about starting your own business (Never thought about it at all hellip Seriously thought about it)Estimate the likelihood that yoursquoll start your own business in the next 5 years (Very unlikely hellip very likely)Estimate the likelihood that yoursquoll start your own business in the next 10 years (Very unlikely hellip very likely)

Perceived desirability (Krueger 1993 and Krueger et al 2000 Cronbach alpha = 069)How attractive is it for you to start your own business (Very unattractive hellip very attractive)If you started your own business how would you feel about doing it (Irsquod hate doing it hellip Irsquod love doing it)If you started your own business how tense would you be (Very tense hellip very relaxed)If you started your own business how enthusiastic would you be (Very unenthusiastic hellip very enthusiastic)

Perceived feasibility (Krueger 1993 and Krueger et al 2000 Cronbach alpha = 067)How practical is it for you to start your own business (Not very practical hellip very practical)How hard do you think it would be to start your own business (Very hard hellip very easy)If you started your own business what do you think your workload would be (Very high hellip low)If you start your own business how certain of success are you (Very certain of failing hellip very certain of success)Do you know enough to start your own business (Know absolutely nothing hellip know everything)

Exposure to family businessDid you parents ever start their own business (Yesno)If yes how would you rate their experience of starting their own business (Positivenegativeneutral)

Difficult childhood (Source Original measure Cronbach alpha = 073)I would describe my life experiences prior to entering university as easy (Strongly disagree hellip strongly agree)Compared to my peers my life experiences have been challenging (eg loss of a parent divorce economic hardship (Stronglydisagree hellip strongly agree)Irsquove had to overcome a lot to get where I am today (Strongly disagree hellip strongly agree)

Frequent relocationIn how many different citiestowns have you lived (Onetwondashthreefourndashfivemore than five)

Table 4 reports these results and shows in section (a) that afamily business background a positive family-back-ground experience and a difficult childhood allsignificantly influence the desirability of starting abusiness accounting for 6 of the variation in desirabilityIn contrast frequent relocation was not found to be asignificant factor Section (b) reveals that all variablesexcept a family business background were significantlyassociated with feasibility to start a business It bears

emphasis that a positive family business experience was asignificant influence on feasibility explaining 4 of thevariation in feasibility The results of section (c) show thatthese variables influence intentions indirectly throughperceived feasibility and perceived desirability whichhave a direct influence on intentions explaining 46 ofthe variation in intentions These significant relationshipsare shown in Figure 1b and a summary table of the resultsof the hypotheses tested is provided in Table 5

Figure 1(b) Model showing significant relationships between variables

236



Table 3 Results of regression analysis of intentionsmodel

Effect of desirability and feasibility on intentions to start abusiness

Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000

Variable βββββ t

Desirability 0473 19185 0000Feasibility 0360 14581 0000

Table 4 Results of regression analysis of childhoodexperiences on desirability and feasibility and intentions ofstarting a business

(a) Effect of parental business parent business experiencedifficult childhood and frequent relocation on perceiveddesirability of starting a business

Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000


Parent owned business 0106 2581 0010Parent business experience 0193 5094 0000Difficult childhood 0123 2971 0003Frequent relocation ndash0035 ndash0843 0400

(b) Effect of parental business parent business experiencedifficult childhood and frequent relocation on perceived feasibilityof starting a business

Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000


Parent owned business ndash0005 ndash0320 0905Parent business experience 0167 3963 0000Difficult childhood 0102 2423 0016Frequent relocation 0111 2760 0008

(c) Effect of parental business parent business experiencedifficult childhood frequent relocation perceived feasibility andperceived desirability on intentions to start a business

Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000


Perceived desirability 0510 15467 0000Perceived feasibility 0336 10180 0000Parent owned business ndash0019 ndash0642 0521Parent business experience ndash0002 ndash0081 0936Difficult childhood 0016 0541 0589Frequent relocation 0018 0598 0550

Discussion

Using the conceptual model of entrepreneurial inten-tions the aim of this study was to examine the influenceof childhood experiences (difficult childhood frequentrelocation parents owning a business and familybusiness experience) directly on the desirability andfeasibility of starting a business Previous researchindicates that a family background in business results in

Table 5 Summary of results of hypotheses

Hypothesis Result

H1 Family business experience is related to Supportedperceived desirability of starting onersquos ownbusinessH2 Family business experience is related to Not supportedperceived feasibility of starting onersquos own businessH3 Positiveness of family business experience Supported is related to perceived desirability of startingonersquos own businessH4 Positiveness of family business experience Supported is related to perceived feasibility of starting onersquos own businessH5 Difficult childhood experiences are Supported positively related to perceived desirability of starting onersquos own businessH6 Difficult childhood experiences are Supportedpositively related to perceived feasibility ofstarting onersquos own businessH7 Frequent relocation is positively related to Not supportedperceived desirability of starting onersquos ownbusinessH8 Frequent relocation is positively related to Supported perceived feasibility of starting onersquos own business

higher intentions to start a business but the othervariables have received little attention The results ofthis study suggest that other childhood experiences alsoinfluence perceptions of entrepreneurship

As part of the childhood experience a family businessbackground was a significant influence only in relationto the desirability of starting a business We can con-clude therefore that having parents who have owned abusiness may increase the attractiveness of self-employ-ment but not necessarily the feasibility However thosewho report a positive view of their familyrsquos businessexperience perceive starting a business as both desirableand feasible These findings are somewhat at odds withprevious research (Krueger 1993) which found thatbreadth of experience in small business was related tothe feasibility of starting a business while the positive-ness of such experience related only to desirabilityDifferences in these findings could be partiallyexplained by sample size as there were over 1000respondents in this study In addition the importance ofparental influences may change with the age of therespondents especially if they are late adolescents as inthe case of this study

In line with research undertaken by Ohe and Ohe(1996) our results document the significance of adifficult childhood to perceptions of entrepreneurship Inparticular our findings show that those who perceivetheir childhoods to have been hard or challenging tendto find starting a business more desirable and morefeasible than people who believe that their childhoodwas less challenging The argument underlying thisfinding is that individuals who have faced adversity in



their developmental stages have become self-reliant andare likely to perceive the autonomy of self-employmentas an appealing option Similarly these individuals arelikely to perceive the challenges of starting a business asless daunting than those with more positive childhoodexperiences

A history of frequent relocation was found to be asignificant positive influence on the feasibility ofstarting a business The adaptability and confidence thatarise from having to adjust to new locations and situa-tions or the experience gained in a variety of situationsmight predispose individuals to perceive self-employ-ment as a feasible option well within their capabilitiesThe underlying attitude changes that might explain thesefinding are not well researched

Despite the significant findings of this paper theamount of variation explained by these variables is quitesmall a point also noted by Davidsson (1995) in hisstudy This suggests that much more research is requiredto understand why some young people develop aninterest in starting a business while others prefer to seekemployment

Conclusions

Considerable research has established the significanceof perceptions of the desirability and feasibility ofstarting a business on intentions While our studyconfirms this conceptual model of entrepreneurialintentions it also extends the model and finds that thereare variables relating to childhood other than a familybackground in business which influence attitudestowards entrepreneurship In particular our results showthe impact of a difficult childhood and frequent reloca-tion on perceptions of starting a business

The results of this study help explain the childhoodfactors that influence the development of entrepreneurialintentions Models that explain how perceptions ofentrepreneurship develop are important in identifyingand designing intervention programmes to stimulateentrepreneurship Obviously we would not advocatethat children should experience hardship or be movedaround frequently so that they become more interestedin starting a business We do suggest however that ifthe attitudes that may arise from a difficult childhoodand frequent relocation are well understood improve-ments may be made in educational interventions thatseek to influence entrepreneurship While educationalprogrammes designed to teach the skills necessary forself-employment are an important component in increas-ing levels of entrepreneurship our study suggests thateducation at all levels from primary to tertiary shouldprovide students with the opportunities to develop self-reliance independence and resilience through activities

such as individual outdoor challenges travel and eventorganization These types of experiences are often partof the primary and secondary school curriculum but arenot typically part of most tertiary courses Since it is atthe tertiary level that students are directly confrontingcareer choices tertiary institutions should considerproviding the opportunities for students to develop thesecritical traits

This paper has contributed to the entrepreneurshipliterature by introducing new variables relating child-hood experiences to the intentions model and assessingtheir impact on attitudes to entrepreneurship Ourfindings are that a difficult childhood with challengingexperiences which could include such factors as loss ofa parent parental divorce or economic hardship influ-ence attitudes Previous research has explained how adistant and rejecting father influences the developmentof entrepreneurial attitudes Future research shouldexamine other specific aspects of a difficult childhood inmore depth to gain a greater understanding of how theyare likely to influence the development of an entrepre-neurial attitude Such research would provide insightinto how to develop (more positive) programmes todevelop specific attributes that lead individuals to bemore entrepreneurial

ReferencesAbraham C and Sheeran P (2003) lsquoActing on intentions the

role of anticipated regretrsquo The British Journal of SocialPsychology Vol 42 pp 495ndash511

Ajzen I (1985) lsquoFrom intentions to actions a theory of plannedbehaviorrsquo in Kuhl J and Beckmann J eds Action ControlFrom Cognition to Behavior Springer-Verlag Berlin pp 11ndash39

Autio E Keeley R H Klofsten M and Ulfstedt T (1997)lsquoEntrepreneurial intent among students testing an intentmodel in Asia Scandinavia and USArsquo Frontiers of Entrepre-neurship Research Babson College Wellesley MA pp133ndash147

Baum J R Locke E A and Smith K G (2001) lsquoA multidi-mensional model of venture growthrsquo Academy ofManagement Journal Vol 44 No 2 pp 292ndash303

Bird B (1988) lsquoImplementing entrepreneurial ideas the case forintentionrsquo Academy of Management Review Vol 13 No 3 pp442ndash453

Brockhaus R H (1980) lsquoRisk-taking propensity of entrepre-neursrsquo Academy of Management Journal Vol 23 No 3 pp509ndash520

Carland J W Hoy F and Carland J A C (1988) lsquoldquoWho is anentrepreneurrdquo is a question worth askingrsquo American Journalof Small Business spring pp 33ndash39

Collins O F and Moore D G (1964) The Enterprising ManMichigan State University Press East Lansing MI

Cox C and Jennings R (1995) lsquoThe foundations of successthe development and characteristics of British entrepreneursand intrapreneursrsquo Leadership and Organization Develop-ment Journal Vol 16 No 7 pp 4ndash9

Crant J M (1996) lsquoThe proactive personality scale as apredictor of entrepreneurial intentionsrsquo Journal of SmallBusiness Management Vol 34 No 3 pp 42ndash49

Davidsson P (1995) Determinants of Entrepreneurial Inten-tions paper presented at the RENT IX Workshop PiacenzaItaly

238



Dyer W G Jr and Handler W (1994) lsquoEntrepreneurship andfamily business exploring the connectionsrsquo EntrepreneurshipTheory and Practice Vol 19 No 1 pp 71ndash84

Dyer W G J (1992) The Entrepreneurial Experience Jossey-Bass San Fransisco CA

Fishbein M and Ajzen I (1975) Belief Attitude Intention andBehaviour An Introduction to Theory and Research Addison-Wesley Reading MA

Gartner W B (1989) lsquoldquoWho is an entrepreneurrdquo is the wrongquestionrsquo Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice summer pp47ndash68

Greenberger D B and Sexton D L (1988) lsquoAn interactivemodel of new venture initiationrsquo Journal of Small BusinessManagement July pp 1ndash7

Hindle K and Rushworth S (2000) Global EntrepreneurshipMonitor Australia 2000 Swinburne University of TechnologyHawthorne Victoria

Hisrich R D and Brush C G (1984) lsquoThe woman entrepre-neur management skills and business problemsrsquo Journal ofSmall Business Management Vol 22 No 1 pp 30ndash38

Kets de Vries M F R (1976) lsquoWhat makes entrepreneursentrepreneurialrsquo Business and Society Review Vol 17 pp18ndash23

Kets de Vries M F R (1977) lsquoThe entrepreneurial personality aperson at the cross-roadsrsquo Journal of Management StudiesVol 14 pp 34ndash58

Kets de Vries M F R (1996) lsquoThe anatomy of the entrepreneurclinical observationsrsquo Human Relations Vol 49 pp 853ndash883

Krueger N (1993) lsquoThe impact of prior entrepreneurialexposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility anddesirabilityrsquo Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Vol 18No 3l pp 5ndash21

Krueger N Reilly M D and Carsrud A L (2000) lsquoCompetingmodels of entrepreneurial intentionsrsquo Journal of BusinessVenturing Vol 15 pp 411ndash432

Lawrence L and Hamilton R T (1997) lsquoUnemployment andnew business formationrsquo International Small BusinessJournal Vol 15 No 3 pp 78ndash82

Learned K E (1992) lsquoWhat happened before the organizationA model of organization formationrsquo Entrepreneurship Theoryand Practice fall pp 39ndash47

Logan J R Alba R D and Stulus B J (2003) lsquoEnclaves andentrepreneurs assessing the payoff for immigrants andminoritiesrsquo The International Migration Review Vol 37 No 2pp 344ndash388

Luthje C and Franke N (2003) lsquoThe ldquomakingrdquo of an entrepre-neur testing a model of entrepreneurial intent among

engineering students at MITrsquo RampD Management Vol 33 No2 pp 135ndash147

Malach-Pines A Sadeh A Dvir D and Yafe-Yanai O (2002)lsquoEntrepreneurs and managers similar yet differentrsquo Inter-national Journal of Organizational Analysis Vol 10 No 2 p172

McClelland D C (1961) The Achieving Society Van NostrandNew York

Nolan A (2003) lsquoLocal heroes enterprise for local economiesrsquoThe OECD Observer No 237 Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development p 21

Ohe S and Ohe T (1996) Three Key Experiences of Japa-nese Entrepreneurs During Their Elementary and SecondarySchool Years paper presented at the Frontiers of Entrepre-neurship Research Wellesley MA

Peterman N and Kennedy J (2003) lsquoEnterprise educationinfluencing studentsrsquo perceptions of entrepreneurshiprsquoEntrepreneurship Theory and Practice Vol 28 No 2 p 129

Reynolds P D (1995) lsquoWho starts new firms Linear additiveversus interaction based modelsrsquo Frontiers of Entrepreneur-ship Research Babson College Wellesley MA

Roberts E B and Wainer H A (1968) lsquoNew enterprise on Rte128rsquo Science Journal Vol 4 No 12 pp 78ndash83

Rotefoss B and Kolvereid L (2005) lsquoAspiring nascent andfledging entrepreneurs an investigation of the business start-up processrsquo Entrepreneurship and Regional DevelopmentVol 17 No 2 pp 109ndash127

Schere J L (1982) lsquoTolerance of ambiguity as a discriminatingvariable between entrepreneurs and managersrsquo Proceedingsof the Academy of Management pp 404ndash408

Scherer R F Adams J S Carley S S and Wiebe F A(1989) lsquoRole model performance effects on development ofentrepreneurial career preferencersquo Entrepreneurship Theoryand Practice No 3 pp 53ndash71

Shapero A (1985) lsquoThe entrepreneurial eventrsquo EnterpriseFebruary pp 5ndash9

Shapero A and Sokol L (1982) lsquoThe social dimensions ofentrepreneurshiprsquo in Kent C A Sexton D L and Vesper KH eds Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship Prentice HallEnglewood Cliffs NJ pp 72ndash90

Shepherd D A (1999) lsquoVenture capitalistsrsquo assessment of newventure growthrsquo Management Science Vol 45 No 5 pp 621ndash632

Triandis H C (1980) lsquoValues attitudes and interpersonalbehaviorrsquo in Howe H and Page M eds Nebraska Sympo-sium on Motivation University of Nebraska Press LincolnNB pp 195ndash259

232



programmes are often those who already have aninterest in starting their own businesses (Peterman andKennedy 2003) and this interest may have developedearly in childhood For example it is well establishedthat young people whose families own their ownbusinesses are more likely to intend to start their ownbusiness (Krueger 1993) An understanding of thefactors that influence and shape individualsrsquo intentionsto start a business is important if governments aresuccessfully to develop policies and programmes toencourage entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurialculture

To appreciate more fully the path to entrepreneurshipndash defined as business start-ups ndash this paper explores thedeterminants of entrepreneurial intentions specificallyfocusing on the impact of childhood experiences onattitudes towards business start-ups

Literature review and hypothesisdevelopment

Early research into the factors that influence individualsrsquoentrepreneurial activities focused on personality traitssuch as the need for achievement (McClelland 1961)locus of control risk-taking propensity (Brockhaus1980) and tolerance of ambiguity (Schere 1982) Whileproviding some insight into the process of entrepreneur-ship the trait approach was criticized because of poormethodological design failure to agree on a definition ofentrepreneurship and inconsistent findings (Gartner1989) It was debated whether trait theory should beabandoned or whether better quality studies wouldproduce more consistent findings (Carland Hoy andCarland 1988) At the same time more comprehensivemodels of entrepreneurship focused attention on entre-preneurial behaviours and attitudes (Carland et al 1988)

The development of intentions models (Fishbein andAjzen 1975) has offered researchers more comprehen-sive frameworks for explaining and predictingentrepreneurial behaviours Intentions models ofentrepreneurship are grounded in the field of socialpsychology (Ajzen 1985 Triandis 1980) in whichintentions have been identified as the most lsquoimmediateand importantrsquo antecedent of behaviour (Abraham andSheeran 2003) such as starting onersquos own business(Krueger Reilly and Carsrud 2000) Attitudes in turnhave been shown to explain around 50 of variance inbehaviour (Autio et al 1997) Intentions thus serve asimportant mediating variables between the act ofstarting a business and potential exogenous variables

Several conceptual models of entrepreneurial inten-tions have been developed to assist our understanding ofthe factors and influences that shape individualsrsquointentions to start a business (Autio et al 1997 Bird

1988 Davidsson 1995 Shapero 1985 Shapero andSokol 1982) There is little variation among the differ-ent approaches taken in these models and also littledifference in the amount of variance in intentionsexplained by the various models (Krueger et al 2000)In this research we have adopted the Shapero model(Shapero and Sokol 1982 Shapero 1985) asoperationalized by Krueger (1993) In this modelintentions are a function of the perceived feasibility andthe perceived desirability of starting a business andexogenous variables influence intentions only throughthese mediating variables

The use of intentions models is now well accepted inthe literature and researchers have turned their attentionto developing richer more comprehensive models topredict the intention to start a business In particularthese models seek to identify factors that may indirectlyaffect entrepreneurial intentions by influencing keyattitudes or perceptions such as desirability and feasibil-ity These factors include life situations such asunemployment (Lawrence and Hamilton 1997) andfamily commitments (Hisrich and Brush 1984) per-sonal-background variables such as prior exposure to afamily business (Autio et al 1997 Davidsson 1995Krueger 1993) a difficult childhood (Ohe and Ohe1996) and frequent relocation as a child (Davidsson1995 Reynolds 1995) While a family business back-ground has received considerable attention in theliterature the impact of other childhood-experiencevariables has received less attention especially inconceptual models of entrepreneurial intentions Thefocus in this paper is on childhood-experience factorsthat may influence entrepreneurial intentions

Childhood experiences

The decision to start a business can be triggered by aparticular situation such as unemployment or familycommitments (Bird 1988 Greenberger and Sexton1988 Learned 1992 Shapero and Sokol 1982) Thedecision can also be the result of onersquos life course(Reynolds 1995) andor cumulative events over time(Learned 1992) such as childhood experiences (Coxand Jennings 1995 Ohe and Ohe 1996) and later workexperiences

Family business background

One variable that has received considerable attention inthe literature is prior exposure to a family businessResearch has found that entrepreneurs often come fromhomes where the mother or father was self-employed(Crant 1996 Dyer 1992 Roberts and Wainer 1968)The parental role models andor exposure to self-employment are considered to influence entrepreneurialattitudes and behaviour (Dyer and Handler 1994)








Difficult childhood







234



Frequent relocation







Table 1 Respondents




















236





Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000





Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000



Discussion



Hypothesis Result










Conclusions

















238









































Difficult childhood







234



Frequent relocation







Table 1 Respondents




















236





Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000





Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000



Discussion



Hypothesis Result










Conclusions

















238


































234



Frequent relocation







Table 1 Respondents




















236





Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000





Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000



Discussion



Hypothesis Result










Conclusions

















238














































236





Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000





Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000



Discussion



Hypothesis Result










Conclusions

















238


































236





Adj R2 = 05 F = 533351 Sig0000





Adj R2 = 0063 F = 10589 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 0040 F = 6797 Sig0000




Adj R2 = 046 F = 23538 Sig0000



Discussion



Hypothesis Result










Conclusions

















238







































Conclusions

















238


































238


































Documents

Impact of childhood experiences on the development of ...74978/...ness of the importance of entrepreneurship and new venture creation. At a national level, entrepreneurial activity