Education in entrepreneurship and the Theory of Planned Behaviour
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present empirical study is to investigate the relationship between education in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behaviour and compare the effectiveness of frequently used entrepreneurship education teaching approaches.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses are derived from the “Theory of Planned Behaviour” (“TPB”), which suggests that education in entrepreneurship is positively related to attitude (“A”), subjective norm (“SN”) and perceived behavioural control (“PBC”); that the effect on A, SN and PBC is stronger for extensive courses in entrepreneurship than for more superficial forms of educational efforts; and that education only influences entrepreneurial intentions indirectly through the effect on A, SN and PBC. The hypotheses are tested using data from two different surveys, one from Belgium and one from Norway.
Findings
None of the hypotheses are supported. However, the findings from the study indicate a strong direct relationship between participation in extensive education programmes in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention.
Research limitations/implications
Additional empirical evidence would be required to confirm these results and help to improve our understanding of the validity bounds of the TPB in the field of entrepreneurship.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that educational programs or events of limited duration have a rather limited usefulness and that efforts should rather be directed on programs of longer duration. This would, for instance, speak for a re-orientation of some policies like those financing short seminars on venture creation for unemployed people.
Originality/value
Using data from two different surveys, one from Belgium and one from Norway, this study raises questions about the sufficiency of the TPB.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Tommy Nilsen and Torstein Aase Johnsen who collected the Norwegian data used in this study and made them available to us. The authors also express their gratitude to the team of “Génération entreprendre”, for the data they collected and put at their disposition.
Citation
Heuer, A. and Kolvereid, L. (2014), "Education in entrepreneurship and the Theory of Planned Behaviour", European Journal of Training and Development, Vol. 38 No. 6, pp. 506-523. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-02-2013-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited