Entrepreneurial competencies benefiting entrepreneurial intention: Iranian adults at home and in the diaspora

Abstract

Iran is the second largest economy and the second largest population in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with a stubbornly high unemployment rate of 11.7% in 2015 (The World Bank in The internet users 2015). Entrepreneurship could be a part of the solution to the high unemployment rate in Iran. As a matter of fact, the Iranian diaspora seizes influential positions in technology, business, and financial industries in Europe and North America. Our study is to answer whether the place of residence has an impact on entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intention, and to examine the relation between entrepreneurial competencies and entrepreneurial intention by providing a comparative study of two groups-Iranian adults in Iran and Iranian diaspora. Using a sample of 3169 native-born Iranian adults in Iran and a sample of 361 Iranian diasporas who are fairly representative of the Iranian diaspora, we find that entrepreneurial competencies in the form of self-efficacy, risk-opportunity and role modeling are more prevalent among Iranian adults at home, but opportunity- alertness is less prevalent among Iranian adults at home. We also found that Iranian adults at home are more likely to start a business compared to the Iranian diaspora. Astonishingly, our study shows that entrepreneurial competency in the form of risk-propensity does not benefit entrepreneurial intention. Only entrepreneurial competency in the form of self-efficacy benefits entrepreneurial intention (in the form of intending phase and starting phase) regardless of where Iranians reside.