Exploring the Formation of Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions among Chinese University Students: A Dual Path Moderated Mediation Model

Jinjin He, Zhongming Wang, Honghao Hu () and Zengguang Fan
Additional contact information
Jinjin He: School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Zhongming Wang: School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Honghao Hu: School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Zengguang Fan: Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-20

Abstract: As Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) gain traction in Chinese society, fostering sustainable entrepreneurship among university students has emerged as a key priority for universities and governments. Methods for increasing students’ sustainable entrepreneurship skills and knowledge for the creation of sustainable startups have attracted substantial attention. This study constructs a moderated mediation model based on entrepreneurial cognition theory to investigate the mediating roles of opportunity identification and attitude in the relationship between sustainable entrepreneurship education and sustainable entrepreneurial intention among university students, in addition to the moderating effect of empathy. The study surveyed 307 students from universities in the Yangtze River Delta region and employed hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that sustainable entrepreneurship education enhances students’ sustainable entrepreneurial intention by fostering their opportunity identification and attitude, and this enhancement effect is stronger when their level of empathy is higher. These findings enrich entrepreneurial cognition and empathy theories within the context of sustainable entrepreneurship and offer valuable insights for universities and policymakers in developing strategies to support sustainable entrepreneurship among university students.

Keywords: sustainable entrepreneurial intention; sustainable entrepreneurship education; opportunity identification; attitude; empathy; SDGs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8069/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8069/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8069-:d:1478746

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().