Why Ecosystems Aren’t Enough

“It simply isn’t enough to set the stage; you have to make sure the actors want to perform too.”

In a nutshell

In one of entrepreneurship education’s most influential studies, Liñán, Urbano, and Guerrero showed that it’s not flashy start-up hubs or government policies that drive entrepreneurial ambition — it’s personal attitude and belief in one’s own ability that truly make the difference.

In a Bigger Nutshell

When it comes to figuring out what nudges someone toward starting a business, there’s never been a shortage of theories — but there’s definitely been a shortage of clear answers. Back in the early 2000s, most researchers focused on external forces: support from friends and family, government incentives, a booming start-up culture. The logic was simple — if you create a great environment for entrepreneurs, more people will want to become one. It made a lot of sense — at least, until people started looking a little closer.

In 2009, Francisco Liñán, David Urbano, and Maribel Guerrero published a study that gave the field a much-needed reality check. Using a robust empirical method and a large sample of Spanish university students, they set out to test what actually drives entrepreneurial intention.

Rather than starting with a rigid theory, they let the data speak for itself — sorting through a wide range of variables, from personal attitudes to policy awareness and social norms, and what they found was actually pretty simple: personal attitude and perceived behavioural control were by far the strongest predictors of entrepreneurial intention. In plainer terms, whether you want to start a business, and whether you believe you can, matters a whole lot more than whether your friends think it’s cool or whether there’s a government grant waiting for you.

Publication Date: April 2011

Authors: Francisco Liñán, David Urbano, and Maribel Guerrero

Institutions: University of Seville, Spain; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain; Deusto Business School, Spain

Study Type: Empirical study

Sample Size: 354 university students from Andalusia, Spain

Research Focus: To identify and evaluate the key factors influencing entrepreneurial intentions among university students.

Research Methodology: Structural equation modelling based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, assessing the role of attitudes, perceived behavioural control, subjective norms, and broader contextual factors (like perceived support and education).

Main Findings: The study found that attitudes toward entrepreneurship and perceived behavioural control (i.e. confidence in one’s entrepreneurial abilities) were the strongest predictors of entrepreneurial intention. Social norms had a less direct effect, mainly influencing attitudes rather than intentions. Contextual factors such as educational and policy support indirectly affected intention by shaping students’ attitudes and self-confidence.

Citation: Liñán, F., Rodríguez-Cohard, J.C. & Rueda-Cantuche, J.M. Factors affecting entrepreneurial intention levels: a role for education. Int Entrep Manag J 7, 195–218 (2011). Link

This was a pretty big deal at the time. Up until then, the dominant assumption was that fixing the environment — building start-up hubs, running more pitch competitions, setting up policy incentives — would naturally lead to more entrepreneurs. It was very much a “build it and they will come” mentality. But this study suggested that the environment, while important, wasn’t the real bottleneck. If people don’t see entrepreneurship as something desirable and achievable for themselves, no amount of external support is going to make them take the leap. It simply isn’t enough to set the stage; you have to make sure the actors want to perform too.

Their work also quietly challenged the typical “one-size-fits-all” approach to entrepreneurship education. Teaching business plans and startup jargon only gets you so far if you’re not also helping students build confidence, agency, and resilience. Real entrepreneurial intention grows from the inside out.

It’s no wonder this paper remains one of the most cited studies in entrepreneurship education. It helped steer the field toward a more psychological, mindset-focused perspective — one that still shapes how we think about developing entrepreneurs today. And, it’s a good reminder: you can have the flashiest start-up ecosystem in the world, but if people don’t believe they belong in it, you’re not going to see much happen.