The effect of network ties and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on immigrant new venture intentions

Understanding the entrepreneurial process should begin with the individual who engages in pre-startup activities, the nascent entrepreneur. The nascent entrepreneur engages in activities that are intended to lead toward a viable business start-up.; This dissertation investigates the effect of network ties, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on the new venture intentions of immigrant nascent entrepreneurs. The immigrant's social network, attitude toward business start-up, and perceived ability to be successful as an entrepreneur all play a role in the formation of their intentions to start a business. Given that immigrants are increasing in number and are playing a major role in the economy, it is important to understand the entrepreneurial process and the factors that influence the formation of new venture intentions among these groups.; Previous research has proposed various entrepreneurial intention models. However, these models have not considered the impact of the individual's network ties and the effect of these ties on planned behavior and entrepreneurial self-efficacy, particularly among immigrant nascent entrepreneurs. This study, therefore, examines the role that strong and weak ties may play in planned behavior (attitude, perceived behavioral control and subjective norm), as well as the effect of these ties on the development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. It also looks at the roles that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and planned behavior play in new venture intentions.; Network theory, the theory of planned behavior and social cognitive theory are integrated and used as a basis for the presentation of hypotheses. A model of these hypothesized relationships is proposed and tested using forty-eight immigrant nascent entrepreneurs and eighty-four non-immigrant nascent entrepreneurs. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression are used to test the hypotheses.; The results of this study indicate that there are no significant differences between immigrant and non-immigrant nascent entrepreneurs, in terms of the influence of network ties. The results do show, however, that the strong ties of all nascent entrepreneurs influence various aspects of planned behavior, which in turn influence new venture intentions.