Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

From Playground to Launchpad: How the Involvement into Parental Business Shapes Offspring’ Entrepreneurial Career Intentions

de Beer, Jurgen LU and Stelzer, Phillip LU (2025) ENTN19 20251
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Entrepreneurial intentions have been identified as a relevant precursor to entrepreneurial behavior;
however, the complexities of entrepreneurial intention remain under-explored. This study
examines the impact of offspring involvement with parental businesses on their entrepreneurial
career intentions and the indirect roles of perceived desirability and perceived feasibility. Building
primarily on the Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM), this study examined a parallel mediation
model that tested perceived desirability and feasibility as independent cognitive pathways through
which parental business involvement influences entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative, cross-
sectional survey design was conducted on 95 participants between... (More)
Entrepreneurial intentions have been identified as a relevant precursor to entrepreneurial behavior;
however, the complexities of entrepreneurial intention remain under-explored. This study
examines the impact of offspring involvement with parental businesses on their entrepreneurial
career intentions and the indirect roles of perceived desirability and perceived feasibility. Building
primarily on the Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM), this study examined a parallel mediation
model that tested perceived desirability and feasibility as independent cognitive pathways through
which parental business involvement influences entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative, cross-
sectional survey design was conducted on 95 participants between 18-30 years of age with at least
one self-employed parent. Using validated scales, hands-on involvement, observational
involvement, perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, and entrepreneurial intention were
measured. Regression and mediation analyses revealed that parental business involvement
significantly predicts both perceived desirability and feasibility, which in turn fully mediate the
relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Notably, perceived desirability did appear to have a
stronger mediating effect than feasibility. These findings confirm the complexity of experiential
learning in the entrepreneurial process, as well as support the experience of early and active
involvement and engagement in parental business experience fostering and promoting a positive
entrepreneurial mind-set among offspring. Implications for theory, practice, and education as
outlined, including a need for targeted experiential learning activities to foster entrepreneurial
confidence and motivation in emerging adulthood and early career phase. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
de Beer, Jurgen LU and Stelzer, Phillip LU
supervisor
organization
course
ENTN19 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
language
English
id
9207169
date added to LUP
2025-07-01 08:34:17
date last changed
2025-07-01 08:34:17
@misc{9207169,
  abstract     = {{Entrepreneurial intentions have been identified as a relevant precursor to entrepreneurial behavior;
however, the complexities of entrepreneurial intention remain under-explored. This study
examines the impact of offspring involvement with parental businesses on their entrepreneurial
career intentions and the indirect roles of perceived desirability and perceived feasibility. Building
primarily on the Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM), this study examined a parallel mediation
model that tested perceived desirability and feasibility as independent cognitive pathways through
which parental business involvement influences entrepreneurial intention. A quantitative, cross-
sectional survey design was conducted on 95 participants between 18-30 years of age with at least
one self-employed parent. Using validated scales, hands-on involvement, observational
involvement, perceived desirability, perceived feasibility, and entrepreneurial intention were
measured. Regression and mediation analyses revealed that parental business involvement
significantly predicts both perceived desirability and feasibility, which in turn fully mediate the
relationship with entrepreneurial intention. Notably, perceived desirability did appear to have a
stronger mediating effect than feasibility. These findings confirm the complexity of experiential
learning in the entrepreneurial process, as well as support the experience of early and active
involvement and engagement in parental business experience fostering and promoting a positive
entrepreneurial mind-set among offspring. Implications for theory, practice, and education as
outlined, including a need for targeted experiential learning activities to foster entrepreneurial
confidence and motivation in emerging adulthood and early career phase.}},
  author       = {{de Beer, Jurgen and Stelzer, Phillip}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{From Playground to Launchpad: How the Involvement into Parental Business Shapes Offspring’ Entrepreneurial Career Intentions}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}