Beyond Intent: Antecedents of Resilience & Precipitating Events for Social Entrepreneurial Intentions and ... Action

Abstract:     
Researchers have vigorously pursued study of entrepreneurial intentions in the contexts of both commercial and social entrepreneurship (Krueger 1998, 2005; Mair & Marti 2006). Formal models of behavioral intentions offer sound theory and empirical robustness plus well-defined critical antecedents and intentions still remain the best single predictor of human behavior. However, researchers have also long noted that we need a much better understanding of the linkages between intention and action, especially where deeply embedded in a social context (Krueger 2000; Shepherd & Krueger 2002). We have little systematic, theory-driven knowledge about what precipitates entrepreneurial action, let alone social entrepreneurs. We propose here a model to formally and rigorously study the perceived barriers and triggers to social entrepreneurship and the role of entrepreneurial resilience in that process, using a unique and powerful extreme context: Response to natural disaster. We further propose a large-scale research project to test that model.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 16

Keywords: social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial resilience, natural disaster, entrepreneurial intentions, Katrina, Grand Forks

JEL Classification: M13

working papers series