Predicting Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions among Romanian Students: A Mediated and Moderated Application of the Entrepreneurial Event Model

Abstract

This research aims to delimit the potential influencing factors of sustainable entrepreneurial intentions (SEI) based on the entrepreneurial event model. The proposed model was tested and validated on primary data in the instance of Romanian students. The structural equation model and PROCESS macro-based quantitative empirical findings confirmed multiple hypotheses and proved the direct predictor role of perceived sustainable entrepreneurial desire (PSED) and feasibility (PSEF) upon sustainable entrepreneurial intentions (SEI), as well as environmental values (EV) as influencing elements of both PSED and PSEF concerning sustainable entrepreneurship. Moreover, PSEF appeared as a mediating factor in the relationship between EV and SEI while entrepreneurial role models (ERM) as a moderator of this relationship. The results of the study reinforce the importance of the entrepreneurial event model in investigating the determinants of sustainable entrepreneurial intentions and provide new investigative insights for academic research. Moreover, the carried out empirical research highlights that government policies and activities carried out within higher education institutions must be called upon to promote at the community level the benefits of achieving Romania’s sustainable development goals, in order to advance environmental values and thus increase the sustainability awareness of extant and potential entrepreneurs, as well as to facilitate the exposure of young people to successful entrepreneurial models with stimulating effects on their sustainable entrepreneurial intentions.