Interplay of antecedents in nascent entrepreneurship: Conceptual model and research propositions

Nascent entrepreneurship is a relatively underresearched area. There are many factors that promote and many factors that inhibit the urge to start new businesses. The interplay between these many factors has not been a subject of intense study because the interactions between these factors make it a complex research problem. Focused on nascent entrepreneurship or prestart-up stages, this article presents a conceptual model and derives research propositions stemming from the research model. In particular, the mediating effects of promoting factors in reducing the inhibitory impact of negative factors is the novel contribution in the development of the research hypotheses. For example, self-efficacy can mediate to weaken the impact of perceived barriers on entrepreneurial intentions. Our broad research model will spur specific empirical research to identify statistically significant factors that promote and inhibit entrepreneurial intentions. Practitioners and policy makers can then focus on these factors to accelerate start-ups.