A Moderated Serial–Parallel Mediation Model of Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intention of Youth with Higher Education Studies in Romania

Abstract

The main purpose of this research paper is to identify the antecedents of sustainable entrepreneurial intentions among university-educated youth through a moderated mediation model. The study has as its theoretical framework two models of entrepreneurial intentions, namely the entrepreneurial event model and the planned behavior model, enclosed in the context of sustainable entrepreneurship. The aim of this study was to establish, in the context of an emerging country, such as Romania, whether the two reference models can be integrated into a single comprehensive model and extended to the situation of sustainable entrepreneurship by taking into account environmental values and the level of university-specific entrepreneurial education. The research results show that for young people with advanced university-level entrepreneurial education, behavioral factors, perceived sustainable entrepreneurial desire, and feasibility are serially and in parallel mediating the relationship between the environmental values and sustainable entrepreneurial intention and, accordingly, the level of university-specific entrepreneurial education plays a moderating role in this relationship. The study findings have significant academic and practical implications for government officials and higher education institutions to foster the willingness of youth with academic backgrounds to engage in sustainable entrepreneurial behavior and initiate it in the future.