The Malleability of International Entrepreneurial Cognitions: A Natural Quasi-Experimental Study on Voluntary and Involuntary Shocks
Journal
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN
1355-2554
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2021-12-01
Author(s)
Research Team
https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/persons/9249
Abstract
Purpose - We investigate the durability of international entrepreneurial cognitions. Specifically, we examine how advanced business education and the Covid-19 pandemic influence international entrepreneurial orientation disposition (IEOD) and subsequently entrepreneurial intentions, to better understand the psychological dynamics underpinning the drivers of international entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach - Against the backdrop of emerging entrepreneurial cognition and international entrepreneurial orientation research, we theorize that both a planned business education intervention (voluntary) and an unforeseeable radical environmental (involuntary) change constitute cognitive shocks impacting the disposition and intention to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. We use pre and post Covid-19 panel data (n = 233) and uniquely identify the idiosyncratic cognitive effects of Covid-19 through changes in the OCEAN personality assessment.
Findings - Findings demonstrate that when perceived psychological impact of Covid-19 is low, business education increases IEOD. Conversely, the effects of a strongly perceived Covid-19 impact reduce the risk-taking and proactiveness components of the IEOD scale. We trace the same effects forward to entrepreneurial intentions.
Originality - We uniquely employ a baseline measure of all our constructs pre-Covid-19 to discern and isolate the pandemic impact on entrepreneurial dispositions and intentions, responding to recent calls for more experimental designs in entrepreneurship research.
Research limitations/implications - This paper contributes to a greater understanding of the resilience of entrepreneurial dispositions through an empirical test of the IEOD scale and shows its boundary conditions under planned intervention as well as unplanned externally induced shock.
Practical implications - We offer a first benchmark to practitioners of the malleability of international entrepreneurial dispositions and discuss the potential to encourage international entrepreneurial behaviour and the individual-level dispositional risk posed by exogenous shocks.
Design/methodology/approach - Against the backdrop of emerging entrepreneurial cognition and international entrepreneurial orientation research, we theorize that both a planned business education intervention (voluntary) and an unforeseeable radical environmental (involuntary) change constitute cognitive shocks impacting the disposition and intention to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. We use pre and post Covid-19 panel data (n = 233) and uniquely identify the idiosyncratic cognitive effects of Covid-19 through changes in the OCEAN personality assessment.
Findings - Findings demonstrate that when perceived psychological impact of Covid-19 is low, business education increases IEOD. Conversely, the effects of a strongly perceived Covid-19 impact reduce the risk-taking and proactiveness components of the IEOD scale. We trace the same effects forward to entrepreneurial intentions.
Originality - We uniquely employ a baseline measure of all our constructs pre-Covid-19 to discern and isolate the pandemic impact on entrepreneurial dispositions and intentions, responding to recent calls for more experimental designs in entrepreneurship research.
Research limitations/implications - This paper contributes to a greater understanding of the resilience of entrepreneurial dispositions through an empirical test of the IEOD scale and shows its boundary conditions under planned intervention as well as unplanned externally induced shock.
Practical implications - We offer a first benchmark to practitioners of the malleability of international entrepreneurial dispositions and discuss the potential to encourage international entrepreneurial behaviour and the individual-level dispositional risk posed by exogenous shocks.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Emerald Insight
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
265030
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Clark, Pidduck, Tietz, 2021, IJEBR, The malleability of international entrepreneurial cognitions, an experiment with voluntary and involuntary shocks.pdf
Size
789.37 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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