Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich, Room 313
Can authorities foster entrepreneurship by means of education and training? If so, what type of education or training is most beneficial? We investigate a large government-initiated reform to provide entrepreneurship education and training for university students and examine the program’s effects on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions, and new venture creation. While results suggest a positive effect of limited training interventions (workshops, inspirational lectures, and the like) on each of these three outcomes, no similar effect can be discerned for the program’s more all-encompassing university courses. We interpret these results to mean that less may be more when it comes to government-sponsored entrepreneurship education: small interventions can be as beneficial, if not more, as large interventions, when it comes to promoting entrepreneurial efficacy, entrepreneurial intentions and venture creation. Implications for theory, education, and policy are discussed. (Co-Authors: Niklas Elert and Karolin Sjö)
Contact person: Dr. Laura Rosendahl Huber