Factors affecting social entrepreneurship intentions among agricultural university students in Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan’s agriculture is again generating local interest after years of decline as awareness of problems facing development and food safety grows. Agriculture-related social entrepreneurship is seen as a crucial solution to the challenges faced and has gradually become part of mainstream business in rural areas. This study examined whether empathy, social responsibility, social capital and support, and social entrepreneurial self-efficacy affect social entrepreneurial intentions. Through an online and offline survey, a sample of Taiwanese agricultural college students (n=464) were recruited for analysis. The factor analyses supported previous studies and proved that the factor structures of subscales used in this study were stable, with the exception of social entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that management efficacy was the most prominent factor affecting social entrepreneurial conviction, followed by stakeholder perspective and communication efficacy. In addition, management efficacy was the strongest factor affecting social entrepreneurial preparation, followed by stakeholder perspective and affective empathy. Notably, cognitive empathy was revealed to be negatively associated with social entrepreneurial preparation. Social capital and support were found to have no association with social entrepreneurial intentions.