Entrepreneurial knowledge and its effects on entrepreneurial intentions : development of a conceptual framework

摘要

This study advances the thesis that knowledge gained from a formal entrepreneurship education program will have positive effects on an individual\u27s overall entrepreneurial intentions through the mediating influences of attitudes and social norms favouring entrepreneurial behaviour. In this proposed conceptual framework, it is argued that the knowledge gained by students attending an entrepreneurship course will have a positive impact on the students\u27 intentions of starting a business. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, this study proposes a research design which involves tracking of the changes in the students\u27 perceptions of the desirability of, self-efficacy in engaging in, and social norms supportive of, entrepreneurship and their consequent influences on the student\u27s entrepreneurial intentions prior to the start and upon completion of an entrepreneurship course.