Entrepreneurial Intentions in the Caribbean: Antecedents and Variations

Abstract

Increasingly, researchers and policy makers across the globe explore the transformative role of entrepreneurship in the development process. What remains relatively under interrogated in this process is the issue of entrepreneurial intentions within the Caribbean region. Where entrepreneurial intentions play a pivotal role in future entrepreneurial activity, this area of research can provide useful insights for development policy and practice. Considering the above, three main objectives guide this paper. Firstly, we comparatively examine the entrepreneurial intentions drawn from adult populations across Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Secondly, we assess the relative importance of entrepreneurial skills, knowledge, and opportunity to entrepreneurial intentions. Thirdly, we also explore for possible socio[1]demographic variations (specifically based on sex, age, level of educational attainment, and type of current profession or career) in the levels of entrepreneurial intentions. To do this, we utilize available raw data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey for the Caribbean countries. We use this data set to test for the relative significance of key antecedent variables for understanding entrepreneurial intentions. Point to variability in the relationship between attitudinal factors, socio-demographic backgrounds, and entrepreneurial intentions between countries in the study. Implications for a more contextualized theorizations of entrepreneurial intentions are discussed.