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Malaysian regulative institutional context moderating entrepreneurs’ export intention
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Malaysian regulative institutional context moderating entrepreneurs’ export intention

K.H. Looi and J.E. Klobas
The Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol.29(2), pp.395-427
2020
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Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a multi-level phenomenon and it is important to investigate how antecedents at different levels interact to determine outcomes. Using multi-level contextualisation, this article examines how a country’s regulative institutional context affects small- and mediumsized entrepreneurs’ (SME) export intention. Institutional theory provides a lens for understanding how macro-level policy that supports one group of firms creates different micro-level contexts for decision-making. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) provides a framework for comparing antecedents of export intention in different micro-level contexts. Data were gathered from 243 Malaysian SME entrepreneurs: 108 ethnic Malays (eligible for institutional support) and 135 ethnic Chinese (ineligible). Partial least squares estimated effects of antecedents on intention and multi-group analysis tested for differences between the path coefficients of ethnic Malay and ethnic Chinese SME entrepreneurs. Malaysia’s affirmative policy moderated decision-making process: ethnic Malay SME entrepreneurs are motivated to export by perceived control of actions and positive attitude; their Chinese counterparts are motivated to export by attitude alone. The findings suggest that desirability (attitude) and feasibility (perceived behavioural control) jointly predict SME entrepreneurs’ export intention in a munificent context, whereas desirability is the sole predictor in a penurious context.

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