Entrepreneurial intention as a function of university atmosphere, macroeconomic environment and business support: a multi-group analysis

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of university atmosphere, macroeconomic environment and business support on students’ entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, it explores whether country moderates these relationships or not. Design/methodology/approach This research is administered on individual-level data collection through survey distribution. The impact of contextual factors on entrepreneurial intention, along with moderating effect, was examined by using multi-group analysis (MGA) in partial least squares (PLS) in an original data set of 1,352 respondents from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Findings The results indicate that university environment and business support can influence entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, country did not moderate the proposed relationships. Research limitations/implications This study’s contribution enriches literature by providing insights on the determinants of entrepreneurial intentions in the Central Europe context. Limitations may be overcome with further research. Practical implications Identifying factors that influence entrepreneurial intention can inform the design of effective policies to boost entrepreneurship and combat youth unemployment. Originality/value Understanding the contextual factors that motivate students towards entrepreneurship may inform the design of more effective policies. The findings of this study, particularly concerning moderating effects, are useful to scholars as entrepreneurial behaviour is proved similar across all three countries.