Recognition of entrepreneurial opportunity using a socio-cognitive approach

Drawing on social cognitive career theory and institutional theory, we develop a multilevel and integrative model to examine the influence of entrepreneurial cognition factors (entrepreneurial self-efficacy and outcome expectations) on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition (EOR). We also consider the moderating effect of contextual factors (normative and regulatory dimensions) on the relationship between entrepreneurial factors and EOR. We use the information provided by both the Adult Population Survey of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project (2006–2016) and the Economic Freedom of the World 2018 Annual Report of the Fraser Institute. After combining both sources, we applied a multilevel analysis to a sample of 293,126 entrepreneurs from 97 countries. We found that self-efficacy and outcome expectations positively influence EOR. The regulatory and normative dimension positively moderates the relationship between self-efficacy and EOR, but the effects of outcome expectations on EOR are not reinforced by any institutional factors.