Predicting Entrepreneurial Behaviour: A Test of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

30 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2011 Last revised: 29 May 2013

See all articles by Teemu Kautonen

Teemu Kautonen

Aalto University School of Business; Anglia Ruskin University

Marco van Gelderen

Massey University

Erno T. Tornikoski

Grenoble Ecole de Management

Date Written: October 13, 2011

Abstract

This article contributes to the occupational choice literature pertaining to entrepreneurship by applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict entrepreneurial behaviour. Originating from social psychology, the TPB posits that intention, a function of behavioural beliefs, is a significant predictor of subsequent behaviour. In spite of an established stream of scholarship explaining the formation of entrepreneurial intentions, empirical research has not yet employed longitudinal data to examine whether the intention to start a business measured at one point of time translates into subsequent entrepreneurial behaviour. This article provides a full test of the TPB in the prediction of business start-up intentions and subsequent behaviour based on two-wave survey data (2006 and 2009) from the working-age population in Finland. The econometric results support the predictions outlined in the TPB: attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms are significant predictors of entrepreneurial intention; and intention and perceived behavioural control are significant predictors of subsequent behaviour. This research thus provides support to the application of the TPB and the concept of behavioural intention to understand the emergence of complex economic behaviour such as entrepreneurship prior to the onset of any observable action.

Keywords: occupational choice, self-employment, entrepreneurship, intention, Theory of Planned Behaviour

JEL Classification: J23, J24, M13

Suggested Citation

Kautonen, Teemu and Gelderen, Marco van and Tornikoski, Erno T., Predicting Entrepreneurial Behaviour: A Test of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (October 13, 2011). Applied Economics, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1943950

Teemu Kautonen (Contact Author)

Aalto University School of Business ( email )

P.O. Box 21210
AALTO, FI-00076
Finland

Anglia Ruskin University ( email )

East Road
Cambridge CB1 1PT
United Kingdom

Marco van Gelderen

Massey University ( email )

College of Business, School of Management
Albany Campus
Auckland
New Zealand

Erno T. Tornikoski

Grenoble Ecole de Management ( email )

12 rue Pierre Sémard
Grenoble Cedex, 38003
France

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