Perceptions culturelles et intention d'entreprendre : Une comparaison entre des étudiants brésiliens et français

In this study we complement existing literature on the influence of national culture on entrepreneurship. More precisely, we present an empirical study aiming to measure the impact of different cultural dimensions over entrepreneurial intentions. Different from previous research, we use a measurement instrument specifically created to capture the entrepreneurial culture of a region or country, i.e., the questionnaire C-ENT (Culture of Entrepreneurship) developed by Stephan (2007). Thus, we suggest a theoretical model that details cultural dimensions that are much closer to entrepreneurial behavior than those use in previous research, and we present a first empirical test of this model, focusing on two countries—Brazil and France—that present particularly interesting levels of entrepreneurial intentions. Our results are consistent with Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reports, in the sense that Brazilian students in our sample exhibit on average higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions than French students. That said, our results also suggest a relative lack of direct effects of culture on entrepreneurial intentions, opening several questions for further research. We discuss these different questions, suggesting dimensions of entrepreneurial culture that should be retained and the psychological constructs to which they seem to be connected.