How Do Education and Entrepreneurial Climate Foster the Development of Entrepreneurial Behavior Over Time?

This study investigates how entrepreneurship education and the university environment shape the transition from entrepreneurial intentions (EI) to early-stage entrepreneurial behaviour (EB), understood as actions taken by students towards starting a business rather than actual firm creation. Using longitudinal data from the GUESSS project, following the same cohort of university students between 2016 and 2018, we analyze the association between Entrepreneurial Climate (EC), General Training (GT), and specific Entrepreneurship Training (ET) and the intention-behaviour link. The results show that ET is significantly and positively associated with EB and moderates the relationship between EI and EB over time, while GT and EC show no direct effect on EB. These findings highlight the importance of targeted entrepreneurship training in supporting students to move from intentions to concrete entrepreneurial steps, offering practical implications for curriculum design and university policy.