The contribution of Business Environment Factor in Forming the Entrepreneurial Characteristics of White Pepper Smallholders

Abstract

Abstract Nowadays, entrepreneurship is required by white pepper smallholders to face the challenge of the change in the business environment. The study on the entrepreneurial characteristics also contributes to equipping the appropriate training program related to the psychological characteristics of smallholders. Its study has not massively being done by scholars. The study aims to identify the entrepreneurial characteristics of white pepper smallholders in Bangka Belitung Islands Province that can be formed by the influence of the business environment. The questionnaire was used as the data collection technique. Simple random sampling was employed as the sampling method. 90 white pepper smallholders were the total of respondents. Structural equation modelling analysis using smart partial least squares was applied to analyse the data. The study revealed that there was a significant factor in the business environment in shaping the entrepreneurial characteristics of white pepper smallholders. The input availability became the main factor of the business environment in affecting the entrepreneurial characteristics. It concluded that the factor of the environment contributed to form the entrepreneurial characteristics of white pepper smallholders. It suggested that the policymaker should concern about creating the proper business environment in developing the entrepreneurial characteristics of white pepper smallholders so that the number of smallholder agribusiness entrepreneurship in the province can be exponentially raised.