The Impact of Access to Finance and Environmental Factors on Entrepreneurial Intention: The Mediator Role of Entrepreneurial Behavioural Control

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the article is to test the direct and indirect impact of environmental and individual determinants on entrepreneurial intention with perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control as a mediating variable.

Research Design & Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative research was conducted using structural equation modelling analysis with a sample consisting of 635 students in 11 universities in Vietnam.

Findings: The results reveal that perceived environmental factors are significantly related to students’ perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control so that entrepreneurial behavioural control becomes a mediator through which those environmental factors influence entrepreneurial intention. Access to finance is insufficient to influence entrepreneurial intention unless combined with entrepreneurial behavioural control.

Implications & Recommendations: The research findings have implications for policy-makers in fostering graduates’ entrepreneurship in emerging countries.

Contribution & Value Added: The survey provides evidence supporting the theoretical arguments that exogenous factors affect perceived entrepreneurial behavioural control and impact entrepreneurial intention through the individual’s perceptions of behavioural control.

Keywords

access to finance; entrepreneurial intention; perceived environment barriers; perceived behavioural control; university environment; SEM