ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: A COMPARISON OF TWO MAJOR ETHNICITIES

Abstract

Entrepreneurship drives every national or regional economy. Therefore, in fostering entrepreneurship need of a nation, researchers should focus on both the regional and local prospect of entrepreneurship. Although many scholars and policy makers devote their attention on the holistic entrepreneurial situation of a nation’s economy, it is equally important to predict the entrepreneurial determinants of various cultural groups. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine the impacts of some factors on entrepreneurial intention of undergraduates of difference cultural groups in Nigeria. In this study, the theory of planned behaviour was used and the model was empirically tested on a sample of 200 higher institution students in Zamfara state. The finding shows that entrepreneurial intention is taken as a function of subjective norm and perceived behavioural control. Equally, the paper contributes to the literature by empirically comparing the entrepreneurial intention of Hausas and Igbos, it was discovered that Igbos are more entrepreneurial than the Hausas. The result of the study has valuable implications for the policy makers and educators. Since today’s youth are the potential entrepreneurs of the future, understanding their perception about entrepreneurship based on their cultural group can be a contribution to the development of the literature and an important step in designing a more effective policy mechanism for economic growth.