THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION ON ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTION. A QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN

There is a dearth of studies focusing on the relationship between entrepreneurship education (EE) and entrepreneurial intention (EI) in post-communist transition countries. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of EE on EI in the context of a Balkan country. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed in a quasi-experimental research design with a pre- and post-program setting. To ensure the comparability between two groups of individuals (those with formal EE and those with no formal EE), a propensity score matching (PSM) along with coarsened exact matching (CEM) methods were applied in an original dataset of 528 adults. The use of this triangulation method was intended to attain more robust results. Our research establishes the impact of EE upon EI, a finding which is consistent with previous studies conducted in developed countries. Thus, individuals with formal EE reflected a higher intention to start a business. These findings offer insights for government officials and leaders of higher education institutions responsible for developing curricula and policies aimed at motivating university graduates toward entrepreneurship upon graduation and or completion of an EE course of study.