Exploring Montenegro’s Entrepreneurship: Connecting Structural Support and Entrepreneurial Intentions

Entrepreneurship is a critical driver of economic development in emerging economies like Montenegro. However, structural challenges, including fragmented access to funding, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and uneven entrepreneurial education, continue to hinder small business growth. Prior studies using Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) framework have predominantly focused on student samples. While valuable, such studies often overlook real-world barriers non-student entrepreneurs face, such as regulatory burdens, informal financing, and post-launch instability. This gap is especially relevant in Montenegro, where structural inefficiencies remain underexamined yet heavily impact entrepreneurial action. This study evaluates Montenegro’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by integrating structural factors (government policy, funding, and entrepreneurial education) and personal motivations (attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control) through the TPB and GEM frameworks. Public awareness is examined as a factor linking institutional support to entrepreneurial outcomes. A survey of 189 Montenegrin citizens—sampled through non-student random and convenience methods—was used to test the hypotheses on the relationships embedded in the study’s model that connects structural factors and the TPB. The paper’s findings validate its model in that perceived behavioural control (H2), personal attitudes (H1), and subjective norms (H3) significantly influence entrepreneurial intentions. Additionally, structural elements—public policy (H5), entrepreneurial education (H4), and financing options (H6)—significantly influence perceived behavioural control, personal attitudes, and subjective norms, respectively. Public awareness also emerged as an important mediating factor; respondents already engaged in entrepreneurship reported greater familiarity with available resources, correlating with stronger entrepreneurial intentions. The validated model suggests that Montenegro has a bright entrepreneurial future if it can address deficiencies in structural factors. Limitations include a modest sample size and reliance on self-reported data within a geographically limited population, which may affect generalizability. Future research should expand demographic diversity, apply longitudinal designs, and incorporate mixed methods to validate results. This study contributes to understanding entrepreneurship in developing contexts by demonstrating how structural and psychological factors interact. Practical implications include launching targeted awareness campaigns, improving policy communication, and embedding entrepreneurship education in curricula.