Age, job identification, and entrepreneurial intention

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how age and job identification affect entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers draw on a representative sample of the Austrian adult workforce and apply binary logistic regression on entrepreneurial intention. Findings – The findings reveal that as employees age they are less inclined to act entrepreneurially, and that their entrepreneurial intention is lower the more they identify with their job. Whereas gender, education, and previous entrepreneurial experience matter, leadership and having entrepreneurial parents seem to have no impact on the entrepreneurial intention of employees. Research limitations/implications – Implications relate to a contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention where the impact of age is exacerbated by stronger identification with the job. Practical implications – Practical implications include the need to account for different motivational backgrounds when addressing entrepreneurial employees of different ages. Societal implications include the need to adopt an age perspective to foster entrepreneurial intentions within established organizations. Originality/value – While the study corroborates and extends findings from entrepreneurial intention research, it contributes new empirical insights to the age and job-dependent contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention.