Entrepreneurship motivations and business start-up intentions among students in Serbia – research results

Ćoćkalo Dragan; Đorđević Dejan; Bogetić Srđan; Bešić Cariša; Gligorović Bojana

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г. SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MOTIVATIONS AND BUSINESS STARTUP INTENTIONS AMONG STUDENTS IN SERBIA - RESEARCH

RESULTS

' 1 2 3

Cockalo Dragan , Dordevic Dejan , Bogetic Srdan ,

Besic Carisa4, Gligorovic Bojana5 (Ph.D., Professor1,3,4; Ph.D., Full Professor2; Associate of the University5)

125

University of Novi Sad , ,

(Republic of Serbia)

Belgrade Business School (Republic of Serbia)

University of Kragujevac4 (Republic of Serbia)

dragan.cockalo @ tfzr.rs1 djole@ rocketmail.com

3

sbogetic @ yahoo .com carisa.besic@ftn.kg.ac.rs4 Corresponding author: cole@tfzr.uns.ac.rs; dragan.cockalo@tfzr.rs

Abstract

The paper presents findings of a research conducted among students in the Republic of Serbia dealing with entrepreneurship and business start-ups. Throughout a three year period the research has included 1990 examinees. The population is built on students from four universities and business schools directed towards business and management. The research has been conducted using a structured questionnaire. The research has shown that a number of examinees were not informed of the existence of financial incentives for starting a business. Interviewed students reported that they lack the knowledge of: the basics of entrepreneurship and small business, basic finance and accounting and foreign languages. In the opinion of students, the Republic of Serbia is currently no suitable environment that encourages youth to start their own businesses. The research also points out to the significant relation between entrepreneurial knowledge and the improvement of business quality.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; young entrepreneurs; knowledge management; business start-up; Serbia.

Additional data:

UDC 331.5, 378

GRNTI 82.15.05

JEL Code L26, D83, I25

Received 07 October 2013

Accepted 22 October 2013

ISSN 2222-6532 www.meconomics. org

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013

Introduction

Several international organizations such as OECD, ILO, World Bank and United Nations deal with issues related to encouragement and development of entrepreneurship among young people. Recently the increasing emphasis has also been placed, by governments across a range of countries (including EU), on stimulating greater commitment to enterprise and entrepreneurial activity, as part of broader economic goals. In addition to a pronounced growth of activity within schools to enhance students' awareness of enterprise opportunities, there has been an escalation of enterprise education and experience programmes. On the second OECD Conference of Ministers responsible for Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it was stated that: “Developing an entrepreneurial culture and fostering

entrepreneurial attitudes and values has moved high on government agendas. Education and training (including lifelong training) in entrepreneurship and creativity are the preferred instruments for encouraging entrepreneurial behavior in societies, and evidence suggests that such programmes can have an impact on entrepreneurial activity and enterprise performance” (OECD, 2009, p.10).

Motivation, intentions, and starting-up business of the students - Review of literature

Entrepreneurship is one of the leading promoters of economic development and creation of new working places through starting new companies, working places, opening of new markets. Entrepreneurship, in educative meaning, represents a source of new skills, knowledge, experiences and possibilities. Entrepreneurship is especially emphasized in current conditions of global economic crisis which has caused great unemployment on the global level where entrepreneurship is observed as one of the ways for its reducing. First of all, it is related to young population -according to official statistics, we can notice the highest rate of unemployment.

The problem of youth unemployment is a complex field but it is limited by several factors which make an appropriate ambience for their encouraging. They are:

- Existence of appropriate programs for encouraging entrepreneurship of the young;

- Existence of institutions for support of the young for starting their own business;

- Existence of financial support to the young for business start up;

- Promotion of entrepreneurship of young people;

- Creation of legal framework for youth entrepreneurship.

Special attention is paid to achieving knowledge from the field of entrepreneurship of the young with the aim of their professional training. There is a great number of previous studies dealing with motivation (Scheinberg and MacMillan, 1988), intentions (Crant, 1999) - elements which influence enterprising behaviour and starting-up business in different ways (Gartner, 1988; Scherer and Brodzinski, 1990; Johannisson et al., 1998), in other words, enterprising behaviour of the young, students (Johannisson et al., 1998) and self-employment (Kolvereid, ISSN 2222-6532 www.meconomics.org

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 1996). Particularly interesting dimension of researching enterprising behaviour of the young makes the studies whose focus is on (for example, Aldrich et. al, 1998): selfemployed parents - self-employed children. This trend is expanding, concerning time (historical) and space (geographical) dimensions.

Recent (2003) researches emphasize:

- Creative and cognitive potentials which students achieve within institutional system, in other words, focus on group of problems which students of different professional orientation have: Berglund and Wennberg (2006).

- Motivation and models of entrepreneurship motivation for the intention of becoming entrepreneurs: Segal, Borgia and Schoenfeld (2005).

- General attitudes, intentions and environment - themes of enterprising behavior, first of all, of young population, motivation, attitudes and intentions in interaction with the environment and education for entrepreneurship are obviously interesting topics to researchers all over the world; in this way, limited or cross-geographical/cross-cultural compared results give to these themes global character. The typical studies of this topic were: Franke and Luthje (2004), Bhandari (2006), Harris and Gibson (2008), Schwarz, Wdowiak, Almer-Jarz and Breitenecker (2009), Boissin, Branchet, Emin and Herbert (2009) and Gasse and Tremblay (2011).

Unemployment and entrepreneurship among the young - The EU and beyond

The economic crisis is having an exceptionally severe impact on young people. According to data obtained from EU Commission (EUCommission, 2013a; EUCommission, 2013b), the EU youth unemployment rate stood at 23.6 % in January 2013, more than twice as high as the adult rate. By the end of 2012, the rate of youth unemployment across the EU had risen from 22.6% in March to 23.4%. In the second quarter of 2012, 12.6% of youth were neither in employment nor in education or training, which is 2.3% higher than four years previously; 7.5 million Europeans aged 15-24 are neither in employment nor in education or training

In the period from 15th June to 8th August 2012 the research was carried out “Entrepreneurship in the EU and beyond“ (EUCommission, 2012) on the territory of EU 27 and in Croatia, Island, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, the United States, China, India, Japan and South Korea. This survey was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social network. Over 42,000 respondents from different social and demographic groups were interviewed. The population of young people (age 15-24) who should be, according to their age, in regular system of education is especially interesting for the research. The methodology used is that of Eurobarometer surveys as carried out by the Directorate-General for Communication. Through this study and also through previous two similar studies the Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry wanted to represent development of entrepreneurship in the last decade.

In general a majority of EU respondents say that they would rather set up a new business (54%); the option choose to set up their own business is particularly popular in Romania (74%), Poland (65%) and Spain (64%). In the population - age from 1525 this attitude is especially present (63%). More than a quarter of in general EU respondents (28%) say they would favour taking over an existing business. The most

ISSN 2222-6532 www.meconomics.org

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 frequent fears which prevent them from starting business (age 15-24) are: the possibility of going bankrupt (55%), risk of losing their property/home and irregular income (34% each).

In the Table 1 the attitudes of respondents about entrepreneurs and their role in society and business can be seen. A large majority (87%) in the EU27 agree that entrepreneurs are job creators. Eight out of 10 EU respondents agree that entrepreneurs create new products and services that benefit all of us. But, a majority of EU respondents also agreed that: entrepreneurs take advantage of other people’s work (57%) and entrepreneurs only think about their own pockets (52%).

Table 1

Attitudes of respondents about entrepreneurs (in percents)

Entrepreneurs are job creators Entrepreneurs create new products and services that benefit all of us Entrepreneurs take advantage of other people’s work Entrepreneurs only think about their own pockets

Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree

Age

15-24 87 11 81 18 51 46 49 49

Education (end of)

15- 81 16 74 21 62 32 60 35

16-19 86 12 77 20 59 37 54 43

20+ 90 9 82 16 54 43 47 50

Still studying 89 10 81 18 49 48 46 51

Source: EUCommission, 2012, p.107

Table 2 shows high percentage of respondents who didn’t participate in activities or projects from the field of entrepreneurship during their education. These data seem disturbing because through courses/trainings during education is possible to influence significantly on developing skills of future entrepreneurs - they can be offered a chance to test their ideas by creating their own projects.

Table 2

Participation of respondents during education in training from entrepreneurial field (in percents) ___________________________________

Yes No

EU 27 23 76

Age

15-24 34 66

Education (end of)

15- 9 90

16-19 19 81

20+ 31 68

Still studying 35 65

Source: EUCommission, 2012, p.119

In what extent education in EU manages to educate different generations of entrepreneurs presents Table 3 where can be clearly noticed significant differences in the answers of respondents of different ages and different level of education. Half of EU respondents (50%) agree that their school education helped them to develop a

г - СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 sense of initiative and a sort of entrepreneurial attitude. It is interesting that on national level agreement on this point is highest in Portugal (75%), Romania (73%) and Finland (64%), and lowest in the UK (35%) and Italy (40%). Under half of EU respondents (47 %) agree that their school education helped them to better understand the role of entrepreneurs in society. Four out of 10 EU respondents agree that their school education gave them the skills and know-how to enable them to run a business. 28% of respondents agree that their school education made them interested in becoming an entrepreneur.

Table 3

Help of school education in understanding entrepreneurship (in percents)

My school education is helping/has helped me to develop my sense of initiative and a sort of entrepreneurial attitude

My school education is helping/has helped me to better understand the role of entrepreneurs in society

My school education is giving/has given me skills and knowhow to enable me to run a business

My school education is making/has made me interested in becoming an entrepreneur

Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree Agree Disagree

Age

15-24 64 35 60 39 49 50 42 57

25-39 49 50 44 55 39 60 28 71

40-54 45 54 42 56 38 61 24 75

55+ 49 47 46 49 40 56 26 70

Education (end of)

15- 37 59 37 58 31 66 23 74

16-19 46 52 44 53 38 60 26 72

20+ 55 43 49 49 45 54 28 70

Still studying 66 33 62 37 53 46 43 56

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Source: EUCommission, 2012, p.133

A piece of information from this research according to which 34% of people who regard self-employment within five years as a feasible prospect have taken part in an entrepreneurship course seems interesting. Also 44% of respondents who are taking steps to start a business have taken part in an entrepreneurship course. Between 15% and 20% students who participate in SMEs program in secondary schools will start their own business in the future.

Unemployment in Serbia and comparison with former Yugoslavia countries

Unemployment represents one of the greatest problems in Serbia. Official statistics shows permanent increase of unemployment. According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (RZSRS, 2013) in 2012 there were 701.138 unemployed people (310.123 women), and the total unemployment rate was the highest since 2000 and stood at 23.9% (Figure 1). Figure 2 presents the total unemployment rate all the countries of the former Yugoslavia for the period 20092012. Compared to other countries, Macedonia has the highest total unemployment

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 rate, Slovenia the lowest, while Serbia has the highest growth of total unemployment rate for this period (+7.8%).

2030 2001 2002 20СЗ 2004 2Э05 20Э6 2007 2С08 20С9 201С 20*. 1 2012

^^■Total ^^■Feinale • Total inieiiiploymeiitrate (in %)

Figure 1. Unemployed population aged 15 and over with total unemployment rate for the period 2000-2012, Serbia (RZSRS, 2013)

Unemployment rate in Serbia in April 2013 increased by 1.7% if compared to October 2012, while employment rate increased by 0.4%. Unemployment rate in April 2013 decreased by 1.4%, compared to April 2012, while employment rate increased by 2%. Informal employment rate in April 2013 increased by 1.2%, in comparison to April 2012, and by 0.3%, related to October 2012.

35

32.2 32 314 31

30

25 23 9

23.0 ■ Macedonia

20 192 «к» * Slovenia

X 11 Montenegro

15 16.1 'i' В and H • Serbia

10 9.2 10.7 11-8 —*23—

5

2009 2010 2011 2012

Figure 2. Total unemployment rate (in %) for all the countries of the former Yugoslavia in period 2009-2012. (based on Labour Force Survey)

According to data for June 2013 (RSNSZ, 2013; RZSRS, 2013), there were 776,354 unemployed people, which is for 14,868 more than in Decemebr 2012 (761,486) - Table 4. Majority of unemployed people are in the age group 25-39 (298,057), where is also the biggest total unemployment difference for these two

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г. SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013

monts (+8,127). Young people aged 15-24 make nearly 14% and women more then one half of the total unemployed people number.

Table 4

Unemployed persons at December 2012 and June 2013 with monthly differences in total unemployment in the same period (RSNSZ, 2013)_________________

Months Total Female 15-24 25-39

Total Female Total Female

June 2013 776,354 395,810 104,214 48,261 298,057 166,257

December 2012 761,486 392,466 104,954 49,590 289,930 164,171

E + 14,868 +3,344 -740 -1,329 +8,127 +2,086

12013-

ХП2012 П-12013 Ш-П2013 IV-III2013 V-IV2013 VI-V2013

17,253

■ Monthly differences, age 25-39 .9 008 ’ -10,000

■ Monthly differences, age 15-24 ., 00Q

■ Monthly differences, total uneinploynient

Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia and National Employment Service of the Republic of Serbia

Research: Motivation, intentions and starting-up business of the students. Methodology of research

The results of research which dealt with the analysis of attitudes of young people related to their involvement in entrepreneurial process as well as with their comprehension about success of business practice in Serbian companies, represented opinions of future experts and executives. The research in this form was being carried out for three years in a row (2010-2012) on the territory of Republic of Serbia in 16 towns and municipalities during November and December. The survey is carried out by questionnaire. The population is built of students from four universities and business schools. It includes totally 1990 students directed towards business and management. The average age of examinees is about 22 years. Around 38% men and 62% women participate in the sample. The research from 2012 was the most extensive and it involved 755 students.

Hypotheses of the research were:

- General: Students in Serbia want to go into private business but: they do not have appropriate knowledge and skills, they are suspicious that conditions and quality

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013

level are not good enough in private companies, they are not confident considering the ambience of work.

- Specific 1: Students accept the possibility of doing private business but they are aware of economic situation in which they live.

- Specific 2: Some skills and knowledge should be encouraged so the students could start and manage their own business successfully.

- Specific 3: The state is a key factor in providing ambience and support for business start-up.

During the checking phase of statistically relevant differences in the answers provided by students Chi-square (X) test was used, or Cramer's V, coefficient of association at determination of two variables’ strength. Strength of association between two variables (or Cramer's V) varies from 0 (no association between the variables) to 1 (complete association) and can reach 1 only when the two variables are equal to each other. The level of significance was adopted in relation to frequency of answering p < .05. If the Chi-square test was not significant, and p-level greater than .05, significant differences are random and frequency response to a specific question are treated as equals.

The analysis of research results

The focus of the research “Analysis of attitudes and opinions of youth related to business start up by implementation of corporative responsible business and improvement of company’s competitiveness44 was about starting and managing own business. In the period of five years (2008-2012) data were collected from students of faculties and high schools oriented in their work towards business which were related to their opinions about business start up, corporative responsible business and competitiveness of Serbian economy. Due to changes in methodology, only data provided by researching from 2010 to 2012 will be presented and data and analysis from the previous two years that could be compared. They should illustrate and confirm previously stated assertions.

Total data show that there are differences in frequency of answers given to the question “Would you start up your own business?” (X (1, N = 1985) = 512.88, p=.000). Respondents chose the answer “yes” more frequently (75.3%). Hi-square test, however, shows that there is statistically significant connection between the year in which the research was carried out and this question - declining trend for their readiness for business start-up is obvious (X2 = 20.441; df = 2; p = .000*; V = .101**; p = .000). According to sex, male respondents were more willing (78.0%) to start up their business than female respondents (73.9%). Considering their parents’ vocation, respondents whose parents have private business were the ones who gave the answer “yes” to this question - 81.5% in the situations where father is in private business (X2(5, N = 1854) = 9.426, p = .093 > .05, V = .071, p = .093) and 80.7% when mother is in private business (X2(5, N = 1907) = 14.327, p = .014*, V = .087, p = .014).

As reasons for not starting up business the students - respondents give three statements most frequently (table 5): “insufficient financial means”, “insecure political and economic situation” and “I don’t have the right idea”. Potentiation of

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 attitude “I don’t have the right idea” points at compatibility with conclusions of the 2008-2009 research, according to which is necessary to insist on developing entrepreneurial skills within the concept of promoting the concept of entrepreneurship on faculties and high schools (Bordevic et al., 2010a; 2010b).

Table 5

Reasons for not starting up business

Year

2010 2011 2012

Column Row Column Row Column Row

Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ.

(in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %)

I don’t have the right idea 41 25.8 26.5 46 24.1 29.7 68 26.1 43.9

I don’t have enough knowledge 15 9.4 13.4 34 17.8 30.4 63 24.1 56.3

Insufficient financial means 78 49.1 26.4 106 55.5 35.9 111 42.5 37.6

Little experience in managing companies 27 17.0 22.7 55 28.8 46.2 37 14.2 31.1

Insecure in self abilities 1 .6 4.2 14 7.3 58.3 9 3.4 37.5

Insecure political and economic situation 54 34.0 22.4 95 49.7 39.4 92 35.2 38.2

Lack of good partners for business start up 25 15.7 24.8 24 12.6 23.8 52 19.9 51.5

I’m not interested 19 11.9 26.0 16 8.4 21.9 38 14.6 52.1

Other 5 3.1 45.5 6 3.1 54.5 0 .0 .0

Chi-square test: X2 = 77.720; df = 18; p = .000*

Researching further, the level of quality of work in private companies as potential cause of insecurity for doing private business, the following statement was given “Conditions of work in private company are more favourable than conditions in companies with other form of ownership.” The students insisted on the answer “Disagree” (25.7%) (X2(4, N = 1987) = 101.644, p = .000). It is noticeable that since 2010, when students most frequently (33.9%) disagreed with this statement, they have changed their attitude so in 2011 (28.6%) and in 2012 (24.4%) they insisted on the answer “Mostly agree” - V = .117. Although, answering the question “Do you think that in our country people are not informed about real business possibilities of private companies?” they were categorical. Though there are differences in frequency of giving the answer to this question (X2(4, N = 1985) = 1297.365, p = .000), a connection between the year in which the research was carried out and this question is obvious (V = .116),the most frequent answers were “Agree” (45.9%) and “Mostly agree” (31.7%).

For starting and managing own company certain knowledge are necessary that should be provided to youth whether through formal or informal forms of education. According to the results of this research, students-respondents state most frequently

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 three fields in which they lack appropriate knowledge for starting and managing their own business (table 6): elements of entrepreneurship and small business, elements of finance and accounting and foreign languages.

Table 6

Fields of knowledge that students do not have to run their own business

Year

2010 2011 2012

Column Row Column Row Column Row

Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ.

(in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %)

Elements of management 60 11.3 19.0 132 22.3 41.9 123 17.9 39.0

Elements of marketing 52 9.8 19.2 99 16.8 36.5 120 17.4 44.3

Elements of

entrepreneurship 153 28.8 26.7 202 34.2 35.3 217 31.5 37.9

and small business

Elements of finance and accounting 142 26.7 28.5 172 29.1 34.5 184 26.7 36.9

Computer literacy 27 5.1 21.6 20 3.4 16.0 78 11.3 62.4

Foreign languages 143 26.9 25.8 160 27.1 28.9 251 36.5 45.3

Business communication 58 10.9 23.1 79 13.4 31.5 114 16.6 45.4

Other 27 5.1 45.0 28 4.7 46.7 5 .7 8.3

Ambience which the state should provide in order to stimulate young entrepreneurs to start up their business and manage it qualitatively represents a union of several elements among the most influential are: political and economic situation, legislation, organized market, tax policy, promotion of entrepreneurship and education for entrepreneurship. The results of the research show that for the time being there is no ambience appropriate for stimulating business start up (X (1, N = 1989) = 928.548, p = .000) - in 84.2% cases the respondents said so. The most frequent obstacles for this are (table 7): lack of financial means, unstable political and economical situation and too high taxes. There is a five-year-trend within which in 2008 and 2009 78.7% of respondents expressed unsatisfaction with the ambience for starting and developing their own business and they numbered the following factors as obstacles: unstable political and economical situation (36.5%), long and complicated registration procedure (13.7%), and high taxes (10.1%), (Dordevic et al., 2010a; 2010b).

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Table 7

The biggest obstacles for business start up

Year

2010 2011 2012

Column Row Column Row Column Row

Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ.

(in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %)

Lack of financial means 321 67.4 27.9 424 72.5 36.8 407 63.9 35.3

Limited market 103 21.6 25.6 123 21.0 30.5 177 27.8 43.9

Unstable political

and economic 296 62.2 27.3 388 66.3 35.8 401 63.0 37.0

situation

Disloyal competition 66 13.9 24.5 84 14.4 31.2 119 18.7 44.2

Too high taxes 202 42.4 26.3 319 54.5 41.5 247 38.8 32.2

Other 7 1.5 53.8 4 .7 30.8 2 .3 15.4

Chi-square test: X2 = 65.728; df = 12; p = .000*

Interviewed students mostly think (62.6%) that entrepreneur must rely on own financial means in business start up (X2(3, N = 1967) = 1542.578, p = .000). The reason may be the consequence of inadequate confidence in banks and other institutions which offer financial means for start ups. The attitude of students supports this, namely (56.9%) of the interviewed said that start-up loans of commercial banks are not favourable (X (1, N = 1981) = 39.859, p = .000), because they are loaded by high interest rates and long process for getting the means. Data which can be compared and are provided by the research from 2008 and 2009 (Dordevic et al., 2010a; 2010b), point at the obvious five-year-trend; respondents were not satisfied by conditions for start up loans even then (54%), and the most significant reason for them were high taxes (33.8%). These indices point at inadequate policy of the state towards youth as potential entrepreneurs and the private entrepreneurship itself. Unstable political and economical situation, poor financial support to economy and too high taxes have been repeated for years which points at the lack of state’s readiness to solve these problems. These unsolved problems influence the existence of appropriate ambience for business start up. Tax policy represents one of the greatest problems not only for those who want to start up their own business but also for those who have been working in it for years. Associations of entrepreneurs have expressed certain remarks related to the work of tax administration and negative influence of some taxes on normal functioning of companies especially SMEs but, unfortunately, these problems are still present. In addition, there are no specialized institutions which support youth to start up their own business, so there are many reasons for unsatisfaction with entrepreneurial ambience. Without appropriate encouraging ambience it is not possible to direct young people towards entrepreneurial behaviour seriously.

The greatest number of interviewed, even 88.5% (X2(1, N = 1988) = 1180.596, p

= .000), think that the state must have key role in stimulating youth for business start

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У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 up. Respondents emphasize the following stimulatng measures which should be taken by the state (table 8): favourable loans, education and laws/regulations related to youth as entrepreneurs. Considering the activities which are carried out in Serbia these answers are different from the trend in 2008 and 2009 when Promotion of the concept of youth as entrepreneurs represented, in students’ opinion, key way of state support.

Table 8

Role of the state in stimulating youth to start up business

Year

2010 2011 2012

Column Row Column Row Column Row

Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ. Frequ. frequ. frequ.

(in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %) (in %)

Favourable loans 343 64.8 31.0 399 66.5 36.1 364 56.5 32.9

Education 231 43.7 28.1 277 46.2 33.7 313 48.6 38.1

laws/regulations

related to youth as 187 35.3 29.3 233 38.8 36.5 219 34.0 34.3

entrepreneurs

Development of

new business centres and 125 23.6 30.1 137 22.8 33.0 153 23.8 36.9

incubators

Regulation of market 146 27.6 27.8 185 30.8 35.2 195 30.3 37.1

Promotion of the

concept of youth 158 29.9 28.7 204 34.0 37.0 189 29.3 34.3

as entrepreneurs

Other 5 .9 31.3 7 1.2 43.8 4 .6 25.0

Chi-square test: X2 = 27.732; df = 14; p = .015*

Discussion of results

For successful economic recovery of Serbian economy the priority is stable political and economic situation which would contribute to more secure business performance and also positive signal for birth of new companies. Unfortunately, there are lots of monopolistic and privileged companies on the market which additionally discourages other companies to improve competition on domestic market. Lack of financial means is an old problem not only for Serbian companies but also for companies in developed countries and EU as well. However, the solution may be found in more favourable offer of current loans and in encouragement of youth to team with others and in that way provide bigger financial means.

For successful managing of companies knowledge is necessary, whether achieved in formal or informal education. In the Table 7 three fields which youth lack for managing their own business are presented: elements of entrepreneurship and small business, elements of finance and accounting and foreign languages. The first

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 two fields point at the fact that at faculties and in school system in general students should be more concretely presented knowledge from this field. It means that they should achieve skills through practical work. The same is also valid for use of foreign languages which, beside information literacy, represent the basic condition for work in modern business.

It can be concluded from everything said before that young people still do not have enough self-confidence for business start up. There are lots of reasons for that and one of them is education of youth from the field of entrepreneurship. Current situation is unsatisfactory and new ways for education and promotion of entrepreneurship should be found. Young people in Serbia have a wish but they are not trained enough for developing entreneurial initiative and business start up. Another reason for their lack of self-confidence is inappropriate ambience for encouraging entrepreneurship of youth.

Concluding remarks

Unemployment is a consequence of global economic crisis and it represents one of the most serious economic problems for every government. Young people are one of the most endangered age categories hit by economic crisis. European Commission, in the program Europe 2020, as one of economic priorities represents reducing unemployment of youth and also their encouragement for entrepreneurship and business start up. In relation to this it has started certain programs for support of youth with the aim of achieving entrepreneurial knowledge and its practical use.

Beside insufficient competitiveness of its economy, poor productivity and low technological level Republic of Serbia has high unemployment rate which represents one of the biggest economic problems. Young people in Serbia have problems to find job and according to National Employment Service statistics this trend is increasing especially related to youth. The issue of entrepreneurship is mentioned but more through individual activities of some NGO than through state institutions. Inspite of longlasting talking about youth and their problems relating to their involvement in business there is still inappropriate ambience for their realization.

The research "Analysis of attitudes of the young in relation to own business start up by implementation of corporative responsible business and improving company’s competitiveness" which was realized from 2008-2012 on the territory of Republic of Serbia proved several facts that have to be taken into account if we want to encourage the young towards entrepreneurship:

- young people want to start up their own business;

- lack of financial means and unstable political and economic situation represent the reasons for preventing young people from business start up;

- lack of financial means, unstable political and economic situation as well as bad tax policy distract young people from business start up;

- young people think that education is necessary for improving their entrepreneurial knowledge;

- absence of appropriate ambience for business start up and

- key role of state in creating business ambience.

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У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013 The following state institutions have significant role in creating business ambience: Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Ministry of Finance and Economy, Ministry of Sports and Youth, National Agency for Regional Development, SIEPA. Professional associations also have an important role: Association of entrepreneurs, Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, Association of Small and Middle enterprises and entrepreneurs of Republic of Serbia, state and private universities, NGO, international organizations. They all have to contribute to making more efficient system for encouraging young people for business start up and for improving their entrepreneurial knowledge that will improve quality of business performance.

У .У СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ЭКОНОМИКА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ТЕНДЕНЦИИ, ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ, № 9, 2013 г.

SOVREMENNAA feKONOMIKA: PROBLEMY, TENDENCII, PERSPEKTIVY, vol. 9 : 2, 2013

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ПРЕДПРИНИМАТЕЛЬСКАЯ МОТИВАЦИЯ И НАМЕРЕНИЯ БИЗНЕС

СТАРТАПОВ СРЕДИ СТУДЕНТОВ В СЕРБИИ - РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ

ИССЛЕДОВАНИ1 Я

Чочкало Драган1 Джорджевич Деян Богетич Срджан3 Бешич Цариша4 Г лигорович Бояна5

12 5

Ново-Садский университет (Республика Сербия) ’ ’

Белградская бизнес-школа (Республика Сербия)3 Крагуевацкий университет (Республика Сербия)4

Аннотация. В статье представлены результаты исследования, проведенного среди студентов в Республике Сербии, занимающихся предпринимательской деятельностью и бизнес-стартапами. На протяжении трех лет исследование проводилось на 1990 испытуемых. Выборка основана на студентах из четырех университетов и бизнес-школ предпринимательства и управления. Исследование было проведено с использованием структурированной анкеты.

Исследование показало, что значительное число испытуемых не было проинформировано о существовании финансовых стимулов для начала бизнеса. Опрошенные студенты сообщили, что им не хватает знаний по: основам предпринимательства и малого бизнеса, основам финансов и бухгалтерского учёта, иностранным языкам. По мнению студентов Республики Сербия, в настоящее время нет подходящей среды для того, чтобы молодежь создавала свой собственный бизнес. Исследование также указывает на значительную связь между предпринимательскими знаниями и совершенствованием бизнес-качества.

Ключевые слова: предпринимательство; молодые предприниматели; управление знаниями; бизнес-стартапы; Сербия.

Entrepreneurship motivations and business start-up intentions among students in Serbia – research results Текст научной статьи по специальности «Экономика и бизнес»

Аннотация научной статьи по экономике и бизнесу, автор научной работы — Ćoćkalo Dragan, Đorđević Dejan, Bogetić Srđan, Bešić Cariša, Gligorović Bojana

Похожие темы научных работ по экономике и бизнесу , автор научной работы — Ćoćkalo Dragan, Đorđević Dejan, Bogetić Srđan, Bešić Cariša, Gligorović Bojana

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