Antecedents for Entrepreneurial Propensity in Singapore

Abstract

While the existing entrepreneurship literature has identified various antecedents that influence the propensity of individuals becoming entrepreneurs, the extant empirical literature is mostly based on evidence drawn from OECD countries. There has been relatively little empirical literature on the antecedents for entrepreneurial propensity in Singapore, whose government has introduced a wide spectrum of entrepreneurial assistant schemes, and has placed entrepreneurship high on its national agenda. This paper attempts to highlight the influence of perceptual variables on entrepreneurial propensity in Singapore. Our focus on perceptual variables such as self-efficacy, alertness to opportunities, knowing other entrepreneurs, and fear of failure is timely given the government's recent call for a shift in Singaporean's attitudes and mindsets towards a more entrepreneurial stance.

Using pooled data from over 9,000 respondents covered in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2001-2004 Singapore adult population surveys; this paper examined the extent to which levels of entrepreneurial activities in Singapore can be explained by perceptual variables such as self-efficacy, alertness to opportunities, knowing other entrepreneurs, and fear of failure. We also tested for possible differences in the variables effects on opportunity vs. necessity entrepreneurial propensities as well as distinguished "high employment potential" entrepreneurial propensity from general entrepreneurial propensity.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Propensity, Self-Efficacy, Opportunity Perception, Singapore

JEL Classification: M13