Satisfied with the Status Quo or Dare to Challenge the Future? Institutional Environment and Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy of Company Employees

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy has long been considered a unique characteristic for differentiating entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs; nevertheless, scant research has been conducted to explore the psychological factors that may affect company employees’ entrepreneurial intentions or antecedents of individuals’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This paper contributes to the literature by examining how the institutional environment affects company employees’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. More importantly, we use hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the moderating roles of entrepreneurial experience and job satisfaction in affecting the relationship between the institutional environment and employees’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This study reveals that company employees’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy is negatively affected by regulatory support and positively affected by their entrepreneurial cognition. Surprisingly, normative approval has no impact on entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The linkage between the institutional environment and company employees’ entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be better established by considering the moderating effects of the employees’ new venture experience and their current job satisfaction.