Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies : The Role of Corruption and Individual Attributes

Corruption has been shown to discourage entrepreneurship in transition economies and previous research corroborates that individual dispositions affect entrepreneurial intentions. It is less clear, however, to what extent individual attributes impact entrepreneurial behaviors in different institutional contexts. Here, we assess the cross-level moderation effect of corruption at the national level and attributes of entrepreneurs at the individual level, on the likelihood of individuals entering into entrepreneurship. Hence, we contribute to the emerging literature examining contextual influences on entrepreneurialism by focusing on transition economies. Our results indicate that self-efficacy, fear of failure, and opportunity recognition may be more important determinants of entrepreneurial intentions in less corrupt contexts, whereas ties with other entrepreneurs become more relevant in contexts where corruption is endemic