Effect of self‐perceived cognitive factors on entrepreneurship development activities: An empirical study from Oman global entrepreneurship monitor survey

• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Fatema Al Mamari,Swadhin Mondal,Abdullah Al Shukaili,Norizan Mohd Kassim
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2363

ACADEMIC PAPER

Effect of self-perceived cognitive factors on entrepreneurship

development activities: An empirical study from Oman global

entrepreneurship monitor survey

Fatema Al Mamari

1,2

| Swadhin Mondal

3

| Abdullah Al Shukaili

3

|

Norizan Mohd Kassim

3

1

Department of Economics, University of

Nizwa, Nizwa, Oman

2

Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industries

3

Department of Management and

Entrepreneurship Cente, University of Nizwa,

Nizwa, Oman

Correspondence

Swadhin Mondal, Office-11-H-11, Department

of Economics, CEMIS, University of Nizwa,

Nizwa, Oman.

Email: swadhin@unizwa.edu.om

Funding information

University of Nizwa

Self-perceived cognitive factors are the vital components in the early stage of entre-

preneurship development activities. This paper examines the effect of self-perceived

cognitive factors on entrepreneurship development activities in Oman by using the

Oman Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey data collected in 2019. Using the

ordered logit regression model, the study found that there is a significant and positive

effect of business opportunities on the development of entrepreneurship activities.

Necessary skills and creativity also have a significant positive effect on entrepreneur-

ship development activities. However, fear of failure in business has a significant neg-

ative effect on it. Young and adult Omani populations perceive that they have

adequate knowledge, skills, and capacity for innovation and creativity for entrepre-

neurship, and they have a positive attitude toward entrepreneurship. The majority of

young populations perceive that there is enough opportunity to start a business, but

many entrepreneurs are afraid to take risks that entail possible failure. To reduce the

uncertainty and fear of failure in business, the government needs to create a

business-friendly environment and support entrepreneurs in various aspects.

1|INTRODUCTION

It has been demonstrated in the literature that entrepreneurship contributes

to local economic growth and development, and this evidence emanates

mostly from advanced economies. Scholars have often stressed the remark-

able impact of new enterprises on economic growth. Likewise, government

authorities in many countries have widely recognized the positive influence

of new enterprises on job creation, innovation, and productivity

(Davidsson & Delmar, 2006; Girma, Gorg, Eric, & Frank, 2008;Praag&

Versloot, 2007). Indeed, given the persistent unemployment problem among

the Omani youth along with a fast-growing population, most recently, the

Omani government has embraced entrepreneurial activities as part of

“Oman's Vision 2040”, and as a means of job creation to cope with unem-

ployment problems. For example, the government has reformed education

to re-emphasize entrepreneurship courses in higher education institutions.

In promoting entrepreneurial activities and their growth, the gov-

ernment of Oman has introduced various financial and non-financial

support programs to enhance start-ups and promote their growth.

These heavy investments are skewed towards self-employment with

the intention of encouraging future development in entrepreneurship

activity among the Omani youth. Unfortunately, it was reported that

despite the government's effort to address the unemployment prob-

lems through job creation and initiatives to encourage themto venture

into self-employment activities,87% of Omani youths still prefer career

options in the government sector as opposed to self-employment

(NCSI, 2019). Thus, this situation will continue to exert tremendous

impacts on the society that are alarming and call for an investigation of

factors thatinfluence the decision to be self-employed.

Indeed, several scholars have argued that self-perceived opportuni-

ties and innovations are the two important cognitive factors that affect a

person's willingness to start a business (Kelley, Brush, Greene, &

Litovsky, 2013; Tsai, Chang, & Peng, 2016). It is evident in the entrepre-

neurship literature that fear of failure is examined as only a barrier to

becoming an entrepreneur (Koellinger, Minniti, & Schade, 2013;Noguera,

Received: 26 April 2020 Revised: 29 July 2020 Accepted: 31 July 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2363

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2363. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2363