The Self-Employment Process: A Discourse of Psychological Attributes and Entrepreneurial Socialization

Description

Following the financial crisis in America and Europe at the end of 2000s, and the population
boom in Africa, unemployment rates have swollen to record levels. Global youth
unemployment rate is estimated at 13% yet the number of job seekers is expected to increase
by thirteen million people by 2019 (International Labour Organisation, 2015). This situation
poses social and economic challenges for both developed and developing nations.
Specifically, it is a challenge in the process of surging development in developing countries,
but also for developed countries that suffered most from the financial crisis. Although most
countries have recovered from this crisis, it has been observed that global economic growth is
still slower and hence not matching with the rapidly growing labor force. Consequently, it is
estimated that about 470 million jobs need to be created for only new job entrants in the next
15 years (United Nations, 2016).
This situation has necessitated sustained debate on tackling youth unemployment,
with particular focus on self-employment as most promising strategy. Self-employment is a
more viable solution because it does not only provide an employment opportunity to the
business owner, but a process through which entrepreneurship is promoted, organizations
created and consequently new work places (Wolff & Nivorozhkin, 2012) hence important for
job creation (Praag & Versloot, 2008). Therefore, self-employment is a double pronged
response to current unemployment crisis. Moreover, enterprises created through selfemployment contribute to economic development through creating wealth. Past research have
demonstrated that entrepreneurship is essential for economic resilience, growth and
development (Kuratko, 2003; Skriabikova, Dohmen, & Kriechel, 2014; Valliere & Peterson,
2009; Williams, Vorley, & Ketikidis, 2013). Self-employment offers opportunity for several
people to bring their expertise and innovative ideas to the economic arena, which enables
them to achieve their career ambitions as well as an opportunity to make meaningful
contributions to society (Kuratko, 2003). The degree to which self-employment contributes to
economic and social development may depend on the level of entrepreneurial success
achieved. However, research has also suggested that it depends on a country’s level of
economic development. Accordingly, entrepreneurial activity makes massive contribution in
Introduction 10
developed countries (Kuratko, 2003; Valliere & Peterson, 2009). On the other hand, self-employment is now major form of employment in developing countries (Chigunta, 2017;
Falco & Haywood, 2016; Gindling & Newhouse, 2014), a contribution that cannot be
ignored..Purpose: The paper examines the role of self-determination in entrepreneurial intentions. We
specifically investigate if autonomy as well as cross-cultural differences would moderate the
relationship between entrepreneurial mentoring and intentions.
Methodology: The sample comprises of 1,509 (799 final year university students, 220
unemployed, and 490 wage-employed) youths from Germany, Kenya and Uganda. Therefore, a
multi-group analysis is applied to test for differences in the impact of mentoring and autonomy
on entrepreneurial intentions.
Results: The findings indicate that mentoring and autonomy are positively correlated to
entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurial mentoring and intentions were lower among German
participants than for the East African countries. The moderated moderation results revealed that
entrepreneurial mentoring is related to higher entrepreneurial intentions among students and the
unemployed, and when individuals have higher levels of autonomy. Country level analysis
showed that interactive effects of mentoring and autonomy are highest in Germany and lowest in
Uganda.
Research/Practical implications: Mentoring and self-determination play an important role in
development of entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship mentors should specifically support
their protégées to develop the ability to act autonomously as an important entrepreneurial
competence. However, culture, and country’s economic conditions also matter. Future
entrepreneurial intentions research should also examine the impact of availability of attractive
positions in wage-employment.
Originality/ Value: A major challenge in entrepreneurial intention research is the predominant
focus on student populations. The present study demonstrates how intentions differ between
students, unemployed, and those already in salaried employment. Similarly, the impact of
mentoring on entrepreneurial intentions also differ in these groups. Moreover, cross-country
analysis of variations in intentions between a developed individualistic country and less
developed collectivistic country is made.
Key Words
Autonomy; Entrepreneurial intentions; Entrepreneurial socialization; Mentoring; Selfdetermination theory