Institutional Drivers of Entrepreneurial Intentions in an Emerging Economy: An Empirical Investigation in Thailand

Despite a dramatic growth in entrepreneurship research in developed economies during the past two decades, there have been fewer studies focusing on emerging economies which recently have become major players in the global economic landscape. Furthermore, the recent political turmoil in Thailand has brought to the attention of several institutions in the country the agenda to foster entrepreneurship in the country as part of its economic reform in order to realize the expected target economic growth. Since entrepreneurial activities are contingent upon both cultural and institutional contexts, this article reviews related literature on the role of institutional environments in spurring entrepreneurial intentions, and empirically tests the relationships among institutional dimensions and the entrepreneurial intentions with a specific focus on Thailand. The results confirm the relationships as postulated by theory while inconsistent findings were found when the sample was split into subgroups based on certain demographic criteria. Implications for policy makers as well as theoretical contributions were discussed in the paper.