A Path-Centric Theory of Entrepreneurship Training Transfer to Explain Long-Term Self-Employment

Abstract

We develop a path-centric theory of entrepreneurship training, which addresses the question of how entrepreneurship training exerts long-term effects on business creation. Specifically, the theory suggests that entrepreneurship training is an event that triggers the elements of a positive feedback loop in terms of entrepreneurial motivation and entrepreneurial action. The elements reinforce each other with increasing returns, resulting in a stabilized action pattern that facilitates business creation. We apply the theory to explain how entrepreneurship training can be effective in reducing unemployment among university graduates in East Africa by forming a path leading to self-employment. Randomized controlled trials with a baseline (T0: N = 1,156), a short-term (T1: N = 872), and a long-term follow-up measurement (T2: N = 622) provided support for the theory. Our study contributes to the literature by presenting a theory that focuses on post-training processes in terms of a motivational self-reinforcing effect to explain the long-term effectiveness of entrepreneurship training. Furthermore, your study addresses a grand challenge in management and entrepreneurship research by demonstrating how entrepreneurship training can reduce unemployment among young adults in low- and middle-income countries.