Innovation self-efficacy, theory of planned behavior, and entrepreneurial intentions: The perspective of young Filipinos

Entrepreneurship is essential to a country's economic growth and development. One way to achieve these objectives is to encourage entrepreneurial behavior among young people, especially students. Successful entrepreneurship requires innovative individuals to make contributions to the economy and to society. As more young Filipinos engage in entrepreneurship and exhibit entrepreneurial skills, it is necessary to know and understand the factors that contribute to their decisions and their confidence in their ability to perform innovation-related tasks, among others. This study integrated the multidimensional construct innovation self-efficacy (ISE), entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE), and entrepreneurial knowledge (EK) into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to determine the influence of these variables on the entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of young Filipino students. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to test the empirical validity and reliability of the measurement model, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the hypothesized relationships of the proposed framework. The results show that ISE, attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) exert significant positive influences on EI. Although subjective norms (SN), ESE, and EK do not significantly influence EI, these variables influence at least one of the antecedents of EI. Moreover, the hypothesized factors of ISE proved to be statistically sound measures, with Observing being the most empirically powerful of the five. The implications for both theory and practice were explored, and potential avenues for further investigation were outlined.