Individual religious affiliation, religiosity and entrepreneurial intentions among students in four countries

Giacomin, Olivier;Janssen, Frank;Shinnar, Rachel S;Gundolf, Katherine;Shiri, Nematollah
(2023) International Small Business Journal — Vol. 41, n° 3, p. 318-346 (2023)

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Authors
  • Giacomin, OlivierNeoma Business School, France
    Author
  • Author
  • Shinnar, Rachel Sorcid-logoAppalachian State University, USA
    Author
  • Gundolf, KatherineUniversity of Applied Sciences, Austria
    Author
  • Shiri, NematollahIlam University, Iran
    Author
Abstract
This article explores religion and religiosity in the field of entrepreneurship. Based on an original, international dataset of 740 students, we examine the impact of individual religious affiliation (Protestant, Catholic or Muslim) or non-affiliation (Agnostic/Atheist) on entrepreneurial intentions. We further examine the influence of individual religiosity (beyond mere religious affiliation) on entrepreneurial intentions, offering new insights as to the role religion and religiosity play in entrepreneurship. Findings support the notion that religion matters when entrepreneurial intentions are concerned. We show that having a religious affiliation – as compared to identifying as an Agnostic/Atheist – has a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions. More importantly, we show that religiosity – not just religious affiliation – affects intentions differently across different religions, thus pointing to the importance of taking religiosity into account, and not only religious affiliation. We also show that followers of a specific religion cannot be regarded as a uniform group when it comes to entrepreneurship and that it is important to differentiate between streams.
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Citations

Giacomin, O., Janssen, F., Shinnar, R. S., Gundolf, K., & Shiri, N. (2023). Individual religious affiliation, religiosity and entrepreneurial intentions among students in four countries. International Small Business Journal, 41(3), 318-346. https://doi.org/10.1177/02662426221097910 (Original work published 2023)