An Empirical Investigation Of Personal And Social Factors That Relate To The Formation Of Social Entrepreneurial Intentions

Several problems in worldwide such as poverty,economic inequality,epidemic disease,environmental changes and underdeveloped health services have led to a greater emphasis on business social responsibility and ethics.The relatively new phenomenon of social entrepreneurship provides potentially effective,innovative solutions to world’s most demanding social problems.The notions of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise have been the emerging trends in the world today,specifically in developing countries.What motivate individuals to intend for social entrepreneurship?We draw on construal level theory and social network theory to explore causes and situations that encourage individuals to engage in social activities in an entrepreneurial manner.My dissertation attempts to examine how temporal distance and spatial distance are associated with individual’s social entrepreneurial intentions in the first study.In addition,how network degree centrality affects the casual relationships.Further,my dissertation attempts to investigate the impact of business ties and political ties on social entrepreneurial intentions and how gender influences the casual relationships in the second study.Through a survey,a sample of 300 general populations of three developing countries(Bangladesh,India,and Pakistan)was used for analyses of both studies.Factor analysis for study 1 supported that the determinants of social entrepreneurial intentions could be divided into dimensions of temporal and spatial distance.Hierarchical linear regression analysis results indicated that temporal distance negatively and significantly associated with social entrepreneurial intentions.Degree centrality intensifies the negative relationship between temporal distance and social entrepreneurial intentions,and suppresses the positive relationship between spatial distance and social entrepreneurial intentions.Factor analysis for study 2 supported that business ties and political ties are determinants of social entrepreneurial intentions.The findings show that business ties positively affect social entrepreneurial intentions,but political ties are negatively related to social entrepreneurial intentions.Furthermore,our results indicate that the gender influences both the positive impact of business ties on social entrepreneurial intentions,which is greater for males,and the negative impact of political ties,which is stronger for females.