Determinants of Faculty Entrepreneurial Intentions to Found University Knowledge Based Companies: An Integrated TPB–TAM–Context Model

Founding university knowledge-based companies (UKBCs) accelerates translation of research into marketable innovations, generates regional economic growth, creates high-value jobs, and strengthens university–industry knowledge transfer, making faculty spin-offs a key pathway for innovation ecosystems. This study examines individual, organizational, and policy determinants of faculty intentions to found UKBCs by integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) within a multilevel institutional framework. We collected survey data from 201 faculty across eight disciplines in an emerging economy setting and estimated relationships using PLS SEM, tested moderation by university supports and government policy, and conducted multi-group comparisons (STEM vs. non-STEM). Predictor blocks included TPB/TAM constructs, innovativeness, university support mechanisms, and government policy. Results indicate perceived behavioral control is the strongest direct predictor of entrepreneurial intention (β = 0.44, p <.001), followed by attitude and perceived usefulness; both university supports and favorable policy directly increase intentions and amplify individual-level effects, with stronger moderation in STEM fields. The integrated model explains R 2 ≈ 0.63 of the variances in intention. Implications are that universities should build faculty capacity, strengthen TTOs and entrepreneurship programs, and align incentives with policy to reduce barriers to spin-off formation. By merging TPB and TAM in a multilevel framework and testing institutional moderators in a developing country context, the study advances open innovation and technology management literatures and provides actionable policy and managerial guidance. • Integrated TPB–TAM–context model explains faculty UKBC intentions (R² ≈ 0.63) • Perceived behavioral control (PBC) is the strongest predictor of intention • University supports mediate cognitive antecedents (PU, PBC) • Government policies enable action but do not significantly change attitudes • Discipline and emerging economy contexts condition commercialization effects