Factors That Influence University Students’ Inclination to Become an Entrepreneur: Insights From Guatemala.

Abstract

Research regarding the entrepreneurial intentions of university students has been primarily limited to developed coun- tries. There is a scant amount of literature and academic discussion about students ́ entrepreneurial perceptions and intentions in developing countries. This paper contributes by filling this void; it estimates the likelihood that students who major in undergraduate business or economics programs will pursue a career as an entrepreneur. The data for this study was obtained by conducting a survey of students who were studying either business or economics at Landí- var University in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Using Multinomial Logit (MNL) and logit estimation techniques, we found that if the student is more confident with both methods used, the relative odds of him/ her becoming an entre- preneur in the future will increase. Although this study did not find any significant effects for the family variable on future entrepreneurship, positive and significant effects of the friends’ variable on future entrepreneurship were found.