The Impact of the 2008-2009 Global Crisis on Entrepreneurial Aspirations and Attitudes

We examine the impact of the Global Crisis on entrepreneurial aspirations and entrepreneurial attitudes. We focus on three aspiration variables (Growth Expectation early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity, New Product early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity, and International Orientation early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity), and eight attitude variables (Entrepreneurial Intention, Entrepreneurship as Desirable Career Choice, Fear of Failure Rate, High Status Successful Entrepreneurship, Know Startup Entrepreneur Rate, Media Attention for Entrepreneurship, Perceived Capabilities, and Perceived Opportunities). Our results show that, two of the attitude variables have changed significantly three years after the crisis. Entrepreneurial Intention is significantly higher in 2011 (i.e. three years after the crisis started) when compared to 2008, and Know Startup Entrepreneur Rate is significantly lower in 2011 when compared to 2008. On the other hand, we find no significant change in any of the aspiration variables.