Entrepreneurial propensity index of university students. The case study from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland

Abstract

Research background: Promotion of the entrepreneurship has an important role in the society, and the direct relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth of the country is proven. Universities education should be one of the pillars to build the business environment and the entrepreneurial propensity of the students in the entrepreneurship. Purpose of the article: The paper aimed to define and quantify significant factors that shape the entrepreneurial propensity of university students and create the entrepreneurial propensity index. A part of this aim was a comparison of defined factors in the Czech Republic (CR), Slovakia (SR) and Poland (PL). Methods: The survey-based research was conducted with students in the last year of their economic studies on the universities. 1,352 students from 25 universities in selected countries were approached during research. A custom Entrepreneurial Propensity Index was created that was implemented separately for CR, SR and PL. Findings & Value added: The research brought interesting findings. The aggregated Entrepreneurial Propensity Index in the Czech Republic reached the value of 0.470, which was higher than that of Slovakia (0.424) and Poland (0.412). The evaluation of the quality of university education is similarly positive in all countries (CR: 0.659, PL: 0.589, SR: 0.592). Czech students gave access to the financial resources and the role of macroeconomic environment got a higher rating than Slovak and Polish students. On the contrary, Poland students gave the social environment and business advantages a higher rating than Czech and Slovak students. The evaluation of the personality traits is more positive in Slovakia. The most positive indicator for all students is that doing business enables to make use of own abilities and own solutions.