Drivers of social entrepreneurial intentions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of the three institutional environment dimensions: regulatory, cognitive and normative on the development of social entrepreneurial intentions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Design/methodology/approach This paper follows the mixed-method methodology. Semistructured interviews were first conducted to collect primary data from 17 respondents from the Palestinian refugee community. The qualitative study was followed by a cross-sectional survey of 160 refugees administered at three Palestinian camps in Lebanon. A structural equation modeling technique using SmartPLS software was used to analyze the survey data. Findings This paper found that with the absence of an impact of the regulatory dimension, the roles of the cognitive and normative dimensions are more prominent in the context of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Originality/value This paper provides policymakers in Lebanon with a better understanding of the context of the Palestinian camps and contributes to the social entrepreneurship (SE) knowledge as it establishes the effectiveness of the Country’s Institutional Profile in this under-researched population. Furthermore, this research proposes some recommendations that would enhance the level of SE in camps and provide suggestions for future research. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research may be the first study of SE in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.