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RESULTS

Table 3 presents the means, standard deviations, and correlations of the variables in the study.  In order to determine the impact of country on the results, a dummy variable was constructed for each country by classifying each respondent “1” if he/she was from that country and “0” if not.  Since significant correlations between country scores and other variables in the analysis are apparent in Table 3, the country scores are included in subsequent analysis.  In Table 3, the correlation of .81 between intent to start a business and desire to start one echoes the results of the factor analysis of the dependent variables.  Among the socio–cultural variables, the strongest correlations are for innovation with both social status and the value of work.

TABLE 3
Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations for the Study's Variables1

 

Variable	Mean	S.D.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
1. Intent	5.61	1.46
2. Desire	5.72	1.33	0.81
3. Feas.	6.72	1.74	0.38	0.36
4. Age	30.6	5.91	-0.06	-0.04	-0.02
5. Sex	1.23	0.42	-0.11	-0.13	-0.03	-0.18
6. Mar	1.57	0.51	0.04	0.01	0.05	-0.58	0.17
7. Own	1.25	0.61	0.24	0.18	0.15	0.09	-0.12	-0.03
8. Sing	0.16	0.36	-0.21	-0.13	-0.33	0.09	-0.03	-0.18	-0.08
9. Mex	0.15	0.35	0.07	-0.02	0.16	-0.14	-0.04	0.08	0.16	-0.18
10. Lank	0.12	0.32	0.01	0.05	0.05	0.24	-0.11	-0.17	-0.05	-0.16	-0.15
11. Bang	0.15	0.36	0.03	-0.01	-0.07	-0.2	-0.09	0.16	0.01	-0.18	-0.18	-0.16
12. Indo	0.18	0.39	0.14	0.11	0.06	0.21	-0.07	-0.12	0.01	-0.2	-0.2	-0.17	-0.2
13. Phil	0.12	0.33	0.12	0.12	0.12	-0.19	0.26	0.13	0	-0.16	-0.16	-0.14	-0.16	-0.18
14. Stat	4.81	1.06	0.29	0.24	0.17	-0.11	0.06	0.11	0.02	-0.1	0.11	-0.17	-0.09	0	0.17
15 Shme	3.93	1.25	0.07	0.06	-0.03	0.03	-0.04	-0.04	-0.08	0.02	-0.13	0.09	0.09	0.1	0.05	0.06
16. Innv	4.42	1.46	-0.03	0.02	0.03	0.03	0.06	0.03	-0.01	0.14	-0.14	-0.13	-0.17	-0.04	0.11	0.37	-0.01
17.Work	5.14	1.48	-0.06	-0.02	-0.04	0.06	0.08	-0.08	-0.06	0.25	-0.1	-0.21	-0.43	0.22	0.14	0.18	0.06	0.34

 1N = 816.  R= .06, p< .05; R= .08, p< .01; R= .11, p< .001.

Next, the three indicators of interest in starting a business - feasibility, desirability, and intention to start a business - are regressed on the demographic variables entered at step 1, followed at step two by the country variables, then at step 3 by the socio–cultural variables.  Variables representing Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Mexico are entered into the equations as the country variables, with the USA as the base for comparison.  The results are presented in Table 4.
 
For the demographics, Table 4 reveals small associations of youth with intent and being male with desirability and intent.  Prior business ownership associated with all three dependent variables.  For the country indicators, Singaporeans viewed the feasibility of starting a business as much lower than Americans, and Bangladeshis viewed it as slightly lower.  Respondents from the other countries viewed feasibility as about equal to the USA.  Sri Lankans, Filipinos, and Indonesians expressed greater desire to start a business than did Singaporeans, Mexicans, and Americans.  Respondents from every country except Singapore stated a higher intent to start a business than did Americans.  For socio–cultural variables, the social status of entrepreneurship showed a small association with feasibility and larger associations with desirability and intent.  In addition, innovation showed a small negative relationship with intent, that is, those who said innovativeness was highly valued in their country were less likely to intend to start a business.
 
 

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