Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Intention among Agricultural Engineering Students in Adverse Business Environment

Abstract

Entrepreneurial intention is an important step toward nascent entrepreneurship. Many studies have been conducted in developed countries, but the key factors enhancing entrepreneurial intention in developing countries still need to be discovered. In many developing countries, adverse business environment hampers entrepreneurial intention, particularly among young people who tend to develop migration intention instead. However, when they are educated, young people have the potentiality to innovate and face risky business environments. In this study, the first to analyze the entrepreneurial intention of students in agricultural schools in Haiti, we collected primary data from a country-representative sample of 281 students studying in 21 Haitian agricultural engineering schools. Following the theories of planned behavior and entrepreneurial intention, we use both statistical and econometric analysis to assess the entrepreneurial intention and its determinants. Despite a turbulent context, the results revealed a high rate (54.1%) of entrepreneurial intention among students in agricultural engineering schools. This intention was significantly associated with factors like knowledge in business plan preparation, identification of successful agribusiness, experience in leadership and a relentless quest for autonomy.In contrast with the fact that when the stakes are high, people tend to be risk averse, results of this study show agricultural engineering students want to bring solutions even in risky contexts with limited resources. This study suggests that, in troubled countries like Haiti, with severe food insecurity, agricultural engineering students represent actors that can help create a promising future if appropriate support is brought to transform entrepreneurial intention into effective business creation.