Comparative Analysis of Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions in
Latvia and Other CEE Countries
1KRISTAPS LESINSKIS, 2LUISA CARVALHO, 3INESE MAVLUTOVA, 4RUI DIAS
1Department of Management, BA School of Business and Finance, LATVIA
2Instituto Politécnico de Setubal & CEFAGE, Universidade de Evora, PORTUGAL
3Department of Economics and Finance, BA School of Business and Finance, LATVIA
4Instituto Politécnico de Setubal & CEFAGE, Universidade de Evora, PORTUGAL
Abstract. - This study aims to analyse the entrepreneurial intentions of students comparing Latvia and other
Central and Eastern European countries. The investigation examines the impact of factors of micro and macro
level as well as entrepreneurial education.
The paper contains both qualitative and quantitative analysis including inferential and descriptive statistics to
analyse the deviations inside the sample of 680 respondents from Latvia and other Eastern European countries.
The results reveal several statistically significant differences between students from Latvia and other countries.
Latvians emphasize seeking independence as a highly important motivational factor while valuing lower formal
education, business training and business experience as the factors contributing to the success in entrepreneur-
ship. Students from Latvia consider the regulatory framework for doing business to be a bigger obstacle to do-
ing business than in other Central and Eastern European countries.
This paper contributes to previous studies on entrepreneurial intentions in different geographical areas of Cen-
tral and Eastern European countries where this type of research is lacking. Through identification of factors that
impact entrepreneurial education, micro and macro factors influencing career decisions and intentions of young
people it will be possible to improve systems of education and government policies to increase the efficiency of
entrepreneurial education and to encourage entrepreneurship as a career choice.
Keywords: - entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurial perceptions, Central and
Eastern European countries, professional career.
Received: September 6, 2019. Revised: August 18, 2022. Accepted: September 9, 2022. Published: September 21, 2022.
1 Introduction
All over the world, entrepreneurship is cornerstone
for job creation and economic activity in general.
Therefore, development of entrepreneurial educa-
tion in higher education has gained an important
focus recently. Several authors emphasize this trend
[1],[2] in particular since the beginning of 1980-ties.
The aim of this study is to compare entrepreneur-
ial intentions of students in Latvia and other CEE
countries examining different factors of micro and
macro level and entrepreneurial education.
Fiet [3] stresses the relation of business studies to
individual’s competences and future vision about
the preferred occupation. Studies discover signifi-
cant correlation between business studies and busi-
ness intentions and competences. Hattab [4] writes
how business studies increase person’s attitudes
arising from cognition and perceptions. Research in
this field discusses also several important aspects
considered to be a macro-factors, for instance the
legal, social and political environment, and micro-
factors, for instance family relations and similar.
The choice of business models in the analysis of
the sustainability of entrepreneurship as an occupa-
tion is usually not specifically analysed. When mak-
ing career choices students in entrepreneurship get
an unclear picture on success factors in creating
their own business [5].
Choice for geographical area of the research is
related to the fact that studies made about these
countries are rare, especially about Latvia [6].
Audretsch and Thurik [7] emphasize the need for
higher understanding of national business specifics
as entrepreneurship is widely recognized being an
engine for economic activity. This research is espe-
cially important in countries that have moved to
completely new economic system from the one they
had for decades under the Soviet rule or impact.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1633
Volume 19, 2022
Entrepreneur’s personal characteristics and
educational level are related to different skills and
activities in different fields, different types of
entrepreneurs representing different nations and
mentalities, which means that the terminology and
descriptions found in the litera-ture in this field are
not uniform and unified.
Based on these considerations, the authors of this
article decided to focus on Central and Eastern Eu-
ropean countries.
As a result of the analysis, the authors observed a
number of significant differences between students
from different countries included in the study in
their perceptions and attitudes towards entrepre-
neurship related to influencing factors in different
dimensions.
2 Literature Review
The issue of career choice is difficult for today's
students as the economy and labour market demands
have become significantly more dynamic. Becoming
an entrepreneur or employee is mostly difficult for
students, who are negatively affected by various
external factors, such as low economic activity in
the region. Several empirical studies and theories
emphasize the significance of the macro-factors, for
instance, demographic situation, technological de-
velopment and the legal environment. Micro-
factors, for instance, willingness to take risks, per-
sonal qualities, ambitions, drive, family relations
and similar are also of high importance.
Atitsogbe et al [8] describe and analyse the role
of personal characteristics and self-analysis in shap-
ing entrepreneurial intent, as well as emphasizes the
relationship between career choice and entrepre-
neurial intent and believes that personal characteris-
tics and resources play an important role in their
career achievements. There is a strong relation be-
tween hope, grit and self-perceived employability.
Lim et al [9] considers personal productivity as
an important factor impacting professional growth
results: directions of focus, decision-taking and at-
tainment of the goals. Vamvaka et al [10] emphasize
the differences between genders in career choices.
Studies of different groups of countries show that
young people from developing countries are more
willing to engage in entrepreneurship than young
people from developed countries [11].
Theory of Planned Behaviour is one of the most
popular theories of behaviour considering and ana-
lysing the motivations of individuals. It considers
[12] starting a new ventures as a deliberate choice
and planned behaviour where a person acquires
entrepreneurship spirit permanently and continuous-
ly prior to creation of ventures and making the deci-
sion on entry.
Cheung [13] believes that it is important to facili-
tate entrepreneurial thinking in early stages of life.
Different authors view the goals of entrepreneurship
education differently. One part of the theorists be-
lieves that in the process of entrepreneurship educa-
tion, a student must acquire entrepreneurial skills,
for example, to discover business opportunities, to
plan business processes, to deal with business con-
trol and management issues. However, other authors
point out that in entrepreneurship studies it is im-
portant to learn the theory, essence, origin, place
and role of entrepreneurship in society and the
economy [14].
Besides to the personal characteristics of what
helps a person to become an entrepreneur, many
other important reasons influencing the will of indi-
viduals to start their ventures can be detected [15].
Different personal characteristics relate to each oth-
er, but at the same time are impacted by environ-
mental factors. Researchers frequently analyse how
personal traits interact with or are moderated by
other individual traits (e.g., gender, education) and
external environment (e.g., industry dynamics, city
traits) [16].
Hurst and Pugsley [17] separate specific groups
of motivations: earning of money, to make a differ-
ence in the world, hardship in finding an appropriate
job, being able to apply your own approaches and
other. Most of the small businesses are not innova-
tive and do not emphasize growth, and the main
reasons for starting an entrepreneurship are mostly
related to different non-material factors of motiva-
tion.
Regarding gender differences, several researches
point to widespread general public opinion that en-
trepreneurial activities are more appropriate for man
as they are considered to be more predisposed to
engage into entrepreneurship than female and hav-
ing qualities or characteristics, such as independ-
ence, aggressiveness, autonomy and courage, typi-
cally believed to be important for entrepreneurs
[10].
Another aspect carefully studied is the impact of
external environment, in particular the regional dif-
ferences. Although a number of comparative studies
have been conducted in Europe to date, for instance,
comparative study of institutions of higher educa-
tion in Northern and Southern Europe [18], many
researchers emphasize that in-depth studies of dif-
ferences across groups of countries in Europe are
still lacking [19], especially in the countries that
joined the European Union in 2004 and later.
The Eastern European countries included in this
study- Latvia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania,
Slovakia, fell under Soviet rule lasting until 1989-
1990. For about 50 years private business owner-
ship did not exist, and economic activity was driven
by state-owned enterprises. Zinoviev [20] talks
about the thinking of “homo sovieticus” that has
developed over many decades in the Soviet Union
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1634
Volume 19, 2022
and other countries under its influence. It is charac-
terized by low self-initiative, low private motiva-
tion, reliance on state benefits, avoidance of respon-
sibility and risk. It is important to take these aspects
into account when analysing the entrepreneurial
intentions of nations that have experienced the
emergence and consolidation of this way of thinking
over several generations.
Several studies regarding entrepreneurship edu-
cation in Latvia can be found in different articles
written by Latvian authors. Nikitina and Lapina [21]
indicate to high entrepreneurial activity in the coun-
try and believe that the high activity of starting new
companies in Latvia is mainly determined by the
widely available support programs for business
start-ups. The same study finds that the competen-
cies of owner-managers in Latvia are mainly based
on experience.
However, there has also been a decline in busi-
ness start-up activity among young people in Latvia.
Nikitina and Lapina [21] analyse the desire of Lat-
vian youth to engage in entrepreneurship. The re-
sults of the research reveal that in recent years,
young people in Latvia lack an understanding of
developments and opportunities in the labor market,
as well as available support for starting a business in
the country. Mavlutova, Lesinskis, Liogys and
Hermanis [22] emphasize increasing significance of
contemporary teaching methods in business educa-
tion making the use of digital tools.
Research regarding entrepreneurship education,
methods of teaching, entrepreneurial intentions still
contains significant gaps.
3 Research Methodology and Results
To discuss the topic, authors performed the analysis
of statistics on entrepreneurial intensions and ac-
tions as well as conducted survey among students in
European countries. In 2018 and the beginning of
2019, the authors developed survey named KA-
BADA to analyse entrepreneurial intensions, moti-
vation, mindset, obstacles and desirable training
among students of higher education in the European
Union with an aim to analyse possibilities to launch
new teaching approaches and techniques in entre-
preneurship education. Even though the survey was
spread in 16 European countries, its main focused
was put on five EU countries – Latvia and Lithuania
from Eastern Europe, Belgium from Western Eu-
rope, Italy and Portugal from Southern Europe.
An empirical study was conducted in Latvia and
various CEE countries using a representative survey
on entrepreneurial aspirations and intentions among
students from different backgrounds. Statistical
analysis used data based on respondents' attitudes
towards entrepreneurship.
The survey was built based on the review of the-
oretical literature. Two samples were questioned
and answers summarized. The authors then per-
formed tests of statistical significance for differ-
ences in groups observed. The Chi-square and Fish-
er tests were used to test the independence of quali-
tative variables in 2x2 (Fisher) or 2 x ≥3 (Chi-square
test) tables. ).
The authors used Chi Square statistics for testing
relationship between categorical variables. The for-
mula is as follows:
󰇛󰇜
2 – Chi Square obtained
c – degrees of freedom
- the sum of
O – observed frequency counts in each category
E – expected frequency counts in each category
The calculation of one-tailed p value for Fisher’s
Exact Test is made using the following formula:
p = (a+b)!(c+d)!(a+c)!(b+d)! / (a!b!c!d!n!)
As a result authors obtain the same p value as the
CDF of the hypergeometric distribution with the
following parameters:
n - population size
a+b - population “successes”
a + c - sample size
a - sample “successes”
Statistical technique ANOVA is used to assess
potential differences in a scale-level dependent vari-
able by a nominal-level variable having two or more
categories: 󰇛󰇜
In statistics, standard deviation measures disper-
sal. It describes how much the data is spread out:
󰇛󰇜
The approximate standard deviation of a statisti-
cal sample population is the standard error and is
calculated as follows:

A confidence interval shows the probability that
a population parameter will fall between a set of
values for a certain proportion of times [23]:
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1635
Volume 19, 2022
󰇛󰇜
󰇛󰇜
󰇛󰇜
The following hypotheses were tested during the
research:
H1a: Majority of students in Latvia see them-
selves developing and managing their own business.
H1b: Majority of students in chosen Eastern Eu-
ropean countries see themselves developing and
managing their own business.
H2a: Macro-factors are mostly influencing en-
trepreneurial intentions in Latvia.
H2b: Macro-factors are mostly influencing en-
trepreneurial intentions in chosen Eastern European
countries.
The sample of the study included 680 respond-
ents, 52.9% from Latvia and 47,1% from other
Eastern European countries. In terms of gender,
55.1% of them are women and 44,9% of them men.
Most of the respondents are 20 years old or less
(45.6%), mostly 1st year students- 41.2%. The sam-
ple was collected in 2018 and 2019 in Latvia, Croa-
tia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia. Table1
presents the sociodemographic structure of the re-
spondents.
Table 1. Sociodemographic characteristics
Source: authors own study
The calculations contained methods of descrip-
tive statistics (calculation of frequencies, averages,
standard deviations) as well as inferential statistics.
The level of significance for turning down the null
hypothesis is set α ≤ .05. The Chi-square test and the
Fisher test were conducted. The Chi-square pre-
sumption that not more than 20% of cells with ex-
pected frequencies below 5 exist was analysed.
When this presumption was not fulfilled, the Chi-
square test by Monte Carlo simulation was conduct-
ed.
Data collected allows to compare Latvia with a
group of Eastern European countries. The analysis
of respondents answers to the statement “In my
professional life I see myself as” shows that re-
spondents’ majority are considering a job for some
organization, 44.2% in Latvia and 51.9% in the
Eastern European countries. The difference be-
tween the two groups is not statistically significant,
χ2 (2) = 4,433, p = .109 (Table 2). It has to be noted
that about 30% of responses in both groups assert
that they see themselves developing and managing
their own business which is rather high percentage.
Table 2. Future career plans
N
%
Country
Latvia
360
52,9
Eastern European countries
320
47,1
Gender
Male
305
44,9
Female
375
55,1
Age
20 years or less
310
45,6
21 – 24
253
37,2
25 +
117
17,2
Year of studies
Bachelor 1st
280
41,2
Bachelor 2nd
155
22,8
Bachelor 3rd
132
19,4
Bachelor 4th
44
6,5
Master 1st
43
6,3
Master 2nd
26
3,8
Source: authors own study
Analysing the answers to the next question (Ta-
ble 3), it should be noted that there is a significantly
higher proportion of respondents in the East Euro-
pean countries stating that they have no entrepre-
neurial skills (15.3%). This number is smaller in
Latvia. In this case the difference between the two
groups is statistically significant χ2 (4) = 35,296, p
= .001.
Groups
Total
Latvia
Eastern
European
Countries
31,1%
28,4%
29,9%
24,7%
19,7%
22,4%
44,2%
51,9%
47,8%
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1636
Volume 19, 2022
Table 3. Self-evaluation about the skills required to start a business
Groups
Latvia
Eastern
European
Countries
Total
I do not have at all
4,4%
15,3%
9,6%
I have everything to start
6,7%
2,2%
4,6%
I have most of them
19,2%
12,5%
16,0%
I have some, but not enough
52,5%
48,4%
50,6%
I have very few
17,2%
21,6%
19,3%
Total
100,0%
100,0%
100,0%
Source: authors own study
When comparing the responses of Latvian re-
spondents to the responses of those from other East-
ern European countries, it is possible to find a set of
differences in respect to various macro and micro
factors influencing entrepreneurial aspirations and
perceptions about the entrepreneurship (Table 4).
Table 4. Perceptions, micro-factors and macro-factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions: Latvia versus
Eastern European Countries
Latvia
Eastern
European
Countries
Signif.
MICRO-FACTORS
Most important reasons to pursue entrepreneurship as a career choice
Independence
74,2%
60,0%
.001***
Profit, power and status
55,0%
48,1%
.077
Creation and making a better world
23,9%
38,1%
.001***
Dissatisfaction of being employed by others
28,1%
24,7%
.339
Personal development
18,6%
25,9%
.026*
Qualities and preconditions required
Proficiency of independent work and discipline
59,7%
52,8%
.075
Optimism and confidence
34,2%
45,3%
.004**
Ambitiousness and purposefulness
48,9%
40,3%
.025*
Creativity, capability to innovate, vision
57,2%
64,7%
.049*
Readiness to risk
55,6%
39,4%
.001***
Specific knowledge in the field, industry
35,6%
39,7%
.268
Formal education degree
3,9%
12,5%
.001***
Business network
28,3%
27,2%
.797
Financial or material resources
36,1%
31,6%
.224
Business experience
12,8%
25,3%
.001***
Leadership, charisma and communication skills
64,2%
60,3%
.304
Good physical condition and stress resistance
21,4%
16,3%
.096
Flexibility, readiness for adaptation
41,9%
42,5%
.938
Factors that discourage starting an entrepreneurship
Fear to fail
49,2%
45,6%
.397
Stress, possible impact on my health
21,9%
27,5%
.108
Lack of knowledge and skills
52,5%
50,6%
.645
Absence of business network and little experience
59,7%
61,9%
.683
Absence of financial sources
66,1%
57,5%
.022*
Inappropriate business environment
13,3%
21,3%
.008**
Lack of government support
19,4%
21,6%
.506
Reasons related to family
17,8%
12,8%
.089
MACRO-FACTORS
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1637
Volume 19, 2022
Assistance needed to start an entrepreneurship
Examination of business idea
68,6%
58,1%
.080
Finding financial sources
68,6%
61,3%
.209
Business training
29,5%
48,4%
.001***
Mentoring and consulting
59,6%
42,7%
.006**
Infrastructures
30,1%
29,8%
1.000
Informational support
44,9%
49,2%
.547
Business environment issues in a given area
Inefficient government bureaucracy
60,0%
49,7%
.009**
Tax rates and regulation
73,3%
64,4%
.013*
Government and policy instability
55,0%
51,6%
.397
Inadequately educated workforce
20,0%
24,4%
.195
Access to funding
51,7%
54,7%
.442
Inadequate infrastructure and facilities
22,5%
17,2%
.102
Corruption
52,8%
56,6%
.355
Insufficient capacity to innovate
23,9%
24,4%
.929
Ethical problems of employees
33,9%
34,7%
.871
Criminal activities
6,4%
18,1%
.001***
MACRO FACTORS ELABORATED BY ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING
Competences required to run an entrepreneurship
Creation of ideas
60,0%
50,9%
.020*
Assessment of business potential of business ideas
43,1%
35,3%
.041*
Communication, leadership and general management skills
51,9%
61,6%
.013*
Sales and marketing skills
48,1%
47,8%
1.000
Financial management skills
43,6%
49,4%
.143
Specific professional skills related to industry specifics
52,8%
47,5%
.191
Assistance needed to generate ideas and manage an entrepreneurship
Examination of ideas
59,6%
55,4%
.424
Availability of financial assistance
65,7%
59,8%
.221
Access to mentors and business consultants
66,5%
54,9%
.019*
Access to appropriate infrastructure
40,0%
31,0%
.064
Access to business training
32,6%
53,3%
.001***
Support from family, relatives and friends
34,8%
35,3%
.918
* p < .05 ** p < .01 *** p < .001
Source: authors own study
Analysing the results shown in Table 4, it can be
concluded that the perceptions about the most im-
portant reasons to pursue entrepreneurship as a ca-
reer choice are rather different in Latvia and select-
ed Eastern European countries. Latvian respondents
stress “independence” (74,2%) as a highly important
reason, while in selected Eastern European countries
the relative importance of such factors as “creation
and making a better world” (38,1%) and “personal
development” (25,9%) are believed to be more im-
portant than among Latvian respondents.
It should be noticed that respondents from se-
lected Eastern European countries highly value
business training as an important assistance needed
to start an entrepreneurship (48,4% compared to
29,5% in Latvia), while Latvians believe that men-
toring and consulting is highly important (59,6%
versus 42,7% in selected Eastern European coun-
tries). The same applies in respect to generating
ideas and managing of entrepreneurship. In selected
Eastern European countries 53,3% of respondents
indicate business training as an important factor
compared to 32,6% in Latvia.
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1638
Volume 19, 2022
Table 5 Results of study
Source: authors own study
Table 5 presents the comparative results for Lat-
via and the other Eastern European Countries stud-
ied regarding the statistically significant values. The
+ sign denotes a bigger percentage value. Analysis
of these results as well as the ones in the Table 2
and Table 4 allow authors to test the hypotheses.
H1a and H1b are rejected as neither in Latvia nor
in selected Eastern European countries majority of
students see themselves developing and managing
their own business as a career choice. Answers
show that in both groups prevailing career choice is
working for private or public organization as a spe-
cialist or manager.
H2a is true as macro factors indeed matter more
in Latvia than in selected Eastern European coun-
tries regarding students’ entrepreneurial intentions.
Respectively, H2b is rejected.
4 Discussion
Because of its higher general entrepreneurial activi-
ty indicators, the answers of Latvian students were
compared to those of students from other Eastern
European countries. The data showed that the im-
portance of some of these factors do significantly
differ in perception when comparison between
groups was made. However, these results should be
discussed more carefully.
After studies based on theoretical analysis where
several factors influencing business intensions are
divided in micro and macro. Authors found statisti-
cally significant differences between Latvia and
other Eastern European countries to be considered
and analysed.
The vision about future career choices is rather
similar and no statistically significant differences
Latvia
Eastern European
Countries
MICRO-FACTORS
Reasons to become an entrepreneur
Independence
+
Creation and making a better world
+
Personal development
+
Skills and necessary preconditions
Optimism and confidence
+
Ambitiousness and purposefulness
+
Creativity, capability to innovate, vision
+
Readiness to risk
+
Formal education degree
+
Business experience
+
Discouraging factors
Absence of necessary financial resources
+
Inappropriate business environment
+
MACRO-FACTORS
Assistance required
Business training
+
Mentoring and consulting
+
Business environment
Bureaucracy
+
Tax rates and regulation
+
Crime
+
MACRO FACTORS ELABORATED BY ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING
Competences
Creation of ideas
+
Assessment of business potential of business ideas
+
Communication, leadership and general management skills
+
Assistance needed
Access to mentors, business consultants
+
Access to business training
+
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1639
Volume 19, 2022
were found. Latvian respondents possess stronger
confidence in their business competences. This cor-
responds to the findings of Global Entrepreneurship
Monitoring (GEM) Consortium published in
2019/2020 Global Report where it was found that
despite rather low scores in assessment of business
opportunities and business environment, the per-
ceived knowledge, skills and experience to start a
new business by Latvians is the second highest
among Eastern European countries observed [24].
This factor together with a higher desire for inde-
pendence could be an explanation to the higher ear-
ly-stage entrepreneurial activity rates in Latvia [25].
In their research on motivation for starting an entre-
preneurship, GEM Consortium does not even in-
clude question about autonomy and independence,
because their pre-testing showed that this was a
universal motivation common to virtually all early
stage entrepreneurs [24]. In our survey Latvia
scored 74,2% against 60,0% in Eastern European
countries regarding independence as a motivation.
Substantial variations were detected analysing
formal education, business training and previous
business experience as an important factor in start-
ing entrepreneurship. It is valued much lower in
Latvia than in other Eastern European countries.
This contradicts to several studies made by many
researchers. Various other studies prove that
youths’ entrepreneurial intentions and are strongly
linked and dependent on the possession of strong
human capital [26], [27].
Some studies emphasize such micro factors as
developing entrepreneurs’ psychological character-
istics, e.g. locus of control, self-efficacy, entrepre-
neurial resilience, risk taking, need for achievement,
innovation, and proactivity especially during
COVID-19 period [28].
Respondents' views and perceptions of an inade-
quate business environment as a barrier to starting a
business should be taken seriously. Especially when
institutional theory [29] is brought forward. Institu-
tional theory describes business management as the
one significantly affected by external business envi-
ronment. Entrepreneurship is linked with institutions
[30], [31], including legislation and social norms,
establishes appropriate environment for individuals
to make their choices, which is crucial in entrepre-
neurship [31], [32], [33] and labour market [34].
Douhan and Henrekson [35] believe that institution-
al environment detects whether an activity is pro-
ductive or destructive. As perceptions play signifi-
cant role in decision making, the current state of
perceptions regarding institutions and regulations is
not beneficial for growing entrepreneurial activity in
Latvia.
Other researches point out future studies may
want to draw on multilevel data to further assess
richer interactions between macro, meso and micro
level factors driving entrepreneurship [36].
5 Conclusions
The study leads to a several conclusions regarding
students’ entrepreneurial intentions and perceptions
of and their career choices. The importance of mi-
cro-factors, macro-factors and entrepreneurial edu-
cation was studied in several European countries
making a comparison between Latvia and some
other Eastern European countries.
The results reveal several statistically significant
differences between these groups. Latvians possess
stronger confidence in their competences to run an
entrepreneurship and stress seeking independence as
the highly important motivational factor while valu-
ing lower formal education, business training and
business experience as the factors contributing to
the success in entrepreneurship. Despite the highly
appreciated institutional environment and regulatory
framework for doing business by other institutions,
our survey shows that Latvians consider it as a big-
ger obstacle in doing business than in other Eastern
European countries.
Further research should widen the geographical
scope analysed to enable more extensive analysis to
be able to detect possible differences and different
approaches to research the business education, in
particular in higher education.
Acknowledgements:
The authors acknowledge to the BA School of Busi-
ness and Finance Internal Research Project “The
application of modern teaching methods in business
studies in higher education” and KABADA - Eras-
mus+ KA2 Knowledge Alliances program (project
number: 612542-EPP-1-2019-1-LV-EPPKA2-KA).
References:
[1] Kuratko, D.F. (2005). “The Emergence of
Entrepreneurship Education: Development,
Trends, and Challenges.” Entrepreneurship
Theory & Practice (September), 577-597.
[2] Penaluna, K., A. Penaluna, & C. Jones.
(2012). “The Context of Enterprise Education:
Insights into Current Practices.” Industry &
Higher Education, 26, pp. 163–175.
[3] Fiet, J. O. (2014). The relationship between
entrepreneurship education and
entrepreneurial intentions: A meta-analytic
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1640
Volume 19, 2022
review. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice,
38(2), 217–254.
[4] Hattab, H.W. (2014). Impact of
entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial
intentions of university students in Egypt. The
Journal of Entrepreneurship, 23(1), 1–18.
[5] Rahmatiah, Wiroto, D. W., & Taan, H.
(2019). Business continuity, motivation, and
social conditions of young entrepreneurs.
Economics and Sociology, 12(4), 166-182.
[6] Kravalis,I., Ciekurs, K., Ropa, A., Mavlutova,
I., Hermanis J.(2021) Teaching Methods for
Generation Z for Physical Activities: a Stable
Labor Market Provision under the COVID-19
Pandemic WSEAS Transactions on Business
and Economics, Volume 18, 2021, Art. #132,
p.1432-1451.DOI:
10.37394/23207.2021.18.132
[7] Audretsch, D.B., Thurik, A.R. (2010).
Unraveling the Shift to the Entrepreneurial
Economy, Tinbergen Institute Discussion
Paper TI 2010-080/3, Rotterdam: Tinbergen
Institute.
[8] Atitsogbe, K. A., Mama, N. P., Sovet, L., Pari,
P., & Rossier, J. (2019). Perceived
Employability and Entrepreneurial Intentions
Across University Students and Job Seekers in
Togo: The Effect of Career Adaptability and
Self-Efficacy. Frontiers in psychology, 10,
180. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00180
[9] Lim, R. Lent, R. L.T. Penn Prediction of job
search intentions and behaviors: Testing the
social cognitive model of career self-
management. Journal of Counseling
Psychology, 63 (2016), 594-603,
10.1037/cou0000154
[10] Vamvaka, V., Stoforos, C., Palaskas,
T. (2020) Attitude toward entrepreneurship,
perceived behavioral control, and
entrepreneurial intention: dimensionality,
structural relationships, and gender
differences. Journal of Innovation and
Entrepreneurship, 5 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13731-020-0112-0
[11] Davey, T., Plewa, C. and Struwig, M. (2011),
"Entrepreneurship perceptions and career
intentions of international
students", Education + Training, Vol. 53 No.
5, pp. 335-
352. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911111147
677.
[12] Ajzen, I. (2011). The theory of planned
behavior: Reactions and
reflections. Psychology & Health, 26(9),
1113–
1127. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2011.
613995.
[13] Cheung, C-K. (2008) ‘Entrepreneurship
education in Hong Kong’s secondary
curriculum: possibilities and limitations’,
Education + Training, Vol. 50, No. 6, pp.500–
515.
[14] Pittaway, L. and Edwards, C. (2012)
‘Assessment: examining practice in
entrepreneurship education’, Education +
Training, Vol. 54, No. 8, pp.778–800.
[15] Carvalho, L., Costa, T. and Mares, P. (2015)
‘A success story in a partnership programme
for entrepreneurship education: outlook of
students perceptions towards
entrepreneurship’, Int. J. Management in
Education, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.444–465
[16] Kerr, S., Kerr, W. and Xu, T. (2017)
Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review
of Recent Literature, Working Paper 18-047,
Harvard Business School.
[17] Hurst, E. & B.W. Pugsley. (2016). Wealth,
tastes, and entrepreneurial choice. In J.
Haltiwanger, E. Hurst, J. Miranda & A.
Schoar (Eds.) Measuring Entrepreneurial
Businesses: Current Knowledge and
Challenges. University of Chicago Press,
Chicago, IL.
[18] Keller, P. G. (2017). Opportunities and
Obstacles for Information Technology Start-
Ups in Europe: A Comparison between
Germany and Latvia. Journal of EU Research
in Business, Vol. 2017 (2017), Article ID
422546, DOI: 10.5171/2017.422546
[19] Adomssent, M, Fischer, D., Godemann,
J., Herzig, C., Otte, I., Rieckmann,
M. And Timm, J., (2014) Emerging areas in
research on higher education for sustainable
development – management education,
sustainable consumption and perspectives
from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 62, 1-7.
[20] Zinovyev, A. (1986). Homo Sovieticus, New
York: Grove/Atlantic.
[21] Nikitina, T., Lapiņa, I. (2019) Creating and
managing knowledge towards managerial
competence development in contemporary
business environment, Knowledge
Management Research & Practice, 17:1, 96-
107, DOI: 10.1080/14778238.2019.1569487
[22] Mavlutova, I., Lesinskis, K., Liogys, M.,
Hermanis, J. (2020) Innovative teaching
techniques for entrepreneurship education in
the era of digitalisation WSEAS Transactions
On Environment And Development, ISSN:
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1641
Volume 19, 2022
1790-5079; DOI:
10.37394/232015.2020.16.75, Volume 16,
2020, pp. 725-733
[23] Sample Size Calculators. [Online]. Available:
https://sample-size.net. [Accessed 9 08 2022].
[24] Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2020),
2019/2020 Global Report, Global
Entrepreneurship Research Association,
London Business School, Regents Park,
London NW1 4SA, UK ISBN (print): 978-1-
9160178-2-5 ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9160178-
3-2, 30-56
[25] Lesinskis, K., Mavlutova, I.,Peiseniece, L.,
Hermanis, J., Peiseniece, E., Pokatayeva, O.
(2021) Modern Business Teaching: The Sta-
ble Market Provisions for Emerging Genera-
tions. Journal Studies of Applied Econom-
ics ( Estudios de Economía Aplicada) Explor-
ing Sustainable Urban Transformation Con-
cepts for Economic Development: Vol.39(5),
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25115/eea.v39i5.52
02
[26] Englis, P. D., Ratinho, T., Englis, B. G., &
Harms, R. (2010). Extensiveness of Business
Planning and Firm Survival: an Examination
into the Drivers of Success and Survival for
Knowledge Intensive Start-up Firms
(Interactive paper). Frontiers of
Entrepreneurship Research, 30(12), Article
20. Available:
http://digitalknowledge.babson.edu/fer/vol30/i
ss12/20/.
[27] Mishra, A. (2005). Entrepreneurial
Motivations in Start-up and Survival of
Micro- and Small Enterprises in the Rural
Non-Farm Economy. Journal of Small
Business and Entrepreneurship, 18(3), 289-
326. doi: 10.1080/08276331.2005.10593345.
[28] Alshebami, Ali Saleh. 2022. "Psychological
Features and Entrepreneurial Intention among
Saudi Small Entrepreneurs during Adverse
Times" Sustainability 14, no. 13: 7604.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137604
[29] North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional
change, and economic performance.
Cambridge University Press.
[30] Baumol, W.J. (1990). Entrepreneurship:
Productive, Unproductive, and Destructive.
Journal of Political Economy, 98(5, Part 1),
893–921.
[31] Pinho, J. C. (2017). Institutional theory and
global entrepreneurship: exploring differences
between factor- versus innovation-driven
countries. Journal of International
Entrepreneurship, 15(1), 56–84.
[32] Sobel, R. S. (2008). Testing Baumol:
Institutional quality and the productivity of
entrepreneurship. Journal of Business
Venturing, 23(6), 641–655.
[33] Carvalho, L., Mavlutova, I., Lesinskis, K., &
Dias, R. (2021). Entrepreneurial perceptions
of students regarding business professional
career: The study on gender differences in
Latvia. Economics and Sociology, 14(3), 217-
238. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-3/12
[34] Wen, Qiao.( 2022). "Estimating Education
and Labor Market Consequences of China’s
Higher Education Expan-
sion" Sustainability 14, no. 13: 7873.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137873
[35] Douhan, R., & Henrekson, M. (2010).
Entrepreneurship and second-best institutions:
going beyond Baumol’s typology. Journal of
Evolutionary Economics, 20(4), 629–643.
[36] Rubilar-Torrealba, Rolando, Karime
Chahuán-Jiménez, Hanns de la Fuente-Mella,
and Mercedes Marzo-Navarro. (2022).
"Econometric Modeling to Measure the Social
and Economic Factors in the Success of En-
trepreneurship" Sustainability 14, no. 13:
7573. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137573.
Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (At-
tribution 4.0 International, CC BY 4.0)
This article is published under the terms of the Crea-
tive Commons Attribution License 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
_US
WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on BUSINESS and ECONOMICS
DOI: 10.37394/23207.2022.19.147
Kristaps Lesinskis, Luisa Carvalho,
Inese Mavlutova, Rui Dias
E-ISSN: 2224-2899
1642
Volume 19, 2022