Bridging Intention-Action Gap in Student Entrepreneurship: the Role of Formal Institutions

Abstract

Entrepreneurial intentions lie at the basis of entrepreneurial process. However, not every declared intention is eventually transformed into actual behavior. Using the data from the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) conducted in 2011 and 2013/2014, we scrutinize the entrepreneurial intention-action link among university students, revealing the inherent context specificity of the intention behavior translation. Namely, we find country-level formal institutions to influence the association between entrepreneurial intentions and subsequent start-up activities.