Received: 31 August 2019 Revised: 14 December 2019 Accepted: 3 March 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2108

ACADEMIC PAPER

Diasporan students social entrepreneurship intention: The

moderating role of institutional support

Sadia Lukman1 | Peng Xiao Bao1 | Benjamin Kweku-Lugu2 |

Vincent Ekow Arkorful1 | Amadu Latif1 | Annabelle Gadabu1 |
Priscilla Charmaine-Kwade1 | Ibrahim Basiru1 | Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq2

1
School of Public Affairs, University of Science
and Technology of China, Hefei, China
2
School of Management, University of Science
and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Correspondence
Sadia Lukman, School of Public Affairs,
University of Science and Technology of
China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Email: sadialukman@yahoo.com
The daunting global challenges saddling polities and governments alike have resul-
tantly created a situation whereby governments and corporate civil society have
inadvertently reneged on delivering public good and services to citizens. In ensuring
and strengthening a public–private actor synergy, with particular emphasis on
leveraging acquired knowledge and skills of diaspora-based students, social entrepre-
neurship activities could be harnessed to provide sustainable remedies to social chal-
lenges such as unemployment, famine amongst others by utilizing social
entrepreneurship as a tool. Using the theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical
framework, the study elicited data from 322 respondents to empirically investigate
determinants of social entrepreneurship intentions of Ghanaian students, with the
moderating role of institutional support. Study results revealed that sense of social
responsibility and service learning have significant relationship with social entrepreneur-
ship intention. However, social volunteering experience had no significant relationship.
Moreover, whereas attitude to social entrepreneurship intention demonstrated a positive
relationship, institutional support as a moderator was also revealed to influence the
relationship between attitude and social entrepreneurship intention. From the
study findings, we discourse on the implications for social entrepreneurship in
Ghana to policy makers and stakeholders.

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N have been variously conceptualized. In the views of Sun, Lee, and

Recent decades have witnessed an increased global commitment to
creating opportunities, whiles fostering the sustainable development
efforts. These commitments demonstrated by state and non-state
actors disparately, and sometimes jointly by both actors are designed
to enhance social livelihood and human well-being. Social entrepre-
neurship as an emerging global concept has been touted as an effica-
cious conduit for addressing diverse social challenges. Essentially, the
concept is acknowledged to have tremendous potency in helping to
alleviate poverty, unemployment, and environmental challenges
amongst others (Huda et al., 2019; Polbitsyn, 2018). Therefore, it is
not surprising that, social enterprise-based institutions are deploying
the concept to drive corporate goals. Significantly, social enterprises
Sohn (2019), social enterprises are referred to as organizations which
marshal and deploy business principles to tackle social problems.
Social enterprises undertake this activity through well-tailored innova-
tive strategies.
Social enterprises focus mostly vacillate between commercial and
social objectives. Within the context, social enterprises contribute
massively to job creation, workforce development and provides sup-
plementary income (Ip, Liang, Wu, Law, & Liu, 2018). Recent times
have witnessed a growth in social entrepreneurship research studies.
The ground-breaking initiative to advance a research model to explain
social entrepreneurship intention (SEI) creation was developed and
pioneered by Mair and Noboa (2006) through the application of the
theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Against this background,

J Public Affairs. 2020;e2108. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1 of 12
https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2108
2 of 12
subsequent seminal research works have been conducted. In
explaining SEIs, Mair and Noboa (2006) employed variables such as
empathy, moral judgment, self-efficacy and perceived social support.
The research argued that empathy drives the development of SEIs.
In this regard, individuals with this trait are more likely to perform
behaviours targeted at improving human welfare. Moreover, the study
concludes that, individuals with high moral obligation are more likely
to extend aid to others on humanitarian grounds. Also, the individual's
degree or level of self-efficacy, regarding the performance of behav-
iour influences the performance of behaviour, whiles perceived sup-
port, which represents the individuals expected support from the
environment, also significantly influences SEI. These results have been
proven by Hockerts (2017), Rambe and Ndofirepi (2019) and Liu, Ip,
and Liang (2018).
Hockert precisely corroborated the significance of prior experi-
ence in social entrepreneurial intention formation because familiarity
with social problems can trigger social entrepreneurial intention.
Moreover, Chinchilla and Garcia (2017) explores social entrepreneur-
ship intention among 184 study participants. Given the heteroge-
neous findings of these studies and the various constructs employed,
altogether against the backdrop of the importance and complexities
of predicting SEIs in contemporary times, the purpose of this study is
to complement the findings of previous research on the characteris-
tics of social entrepreneurs. This calls for the urgency to investigate
social entrepreneurship related studies.
A review of the literature suggests a paucity of empirical studies
on social entrepreneurship from least developed countries such as
Ghana. Additionally, though studies have shown considerable moti-
vating strength for social entrepreneurship among diasporans (Abdul-
Rahman, 2017) research on diaspora-based student's intention to
engage in social entrepreneurship is rarely known. Diasporans play a
very important role in diverse sectors of economy (Saxenian & Sabel,
2008). We argue that travelling abroad provides individuals with
enlightened perspective and insights into the country's social and eco-
nomic problems which has the tendency to help in acquiring innova-
tive ideas targeted at among other things, alleviating poverty and
reducing social sufferings (Darko & Koranteng, 2015; Lyon & Al Faruq,
2018).
Given the potency of social entrepreneurship and the need to
drive efforts in this regard, this study seeks to investigating the deter-
minants of SEIs of students studying in the diaspora and further
explore the link between sense of social responsibility (SSR), service
learning (SL) and social volunteering experience to social entrepre-
neurial intentions. We argue that SSR, SL and volunteering experience
are important antecedents to attitude towards social entrepreneur-
ship whereas institutional support moderates the relationship
between attitude and SEI.
SL offers social entrepreneurs the ability to learn the weaknesses
in the social systems. This helps in developing creative ideas of solving
them (Hockerts, 2017). SSR triggers an obligation to act in the interest
of the society. Volunteering helps the individual build his or her net-
work, create awareness of social problems and also provides ideas
and skills for social entrepreneurship. These experience derived from
LUKMAN ET AL.
volunteering can help generate SEI. Institutional support (i.e., financial,
non-financial) is necessary in the functions of social enterprises hence
its availability is likely to enhance attitude to social entrepreneurial
intention. The contribution of this study to literature is in three folds.
First, it seeks to improve understanding of the impact of SL, social
volunteering experience and SSR on the development of social entre-
preneurship. Second, its offers an insight into comprehending SEI
determinants, especially within the Ghanaian context. And finally, this
study is expected to add a new understanding of the influence of SL,
social volunteering experience and SSR. These investigations will be
very essential for policy and scholarship. The remaining parts of the
paper are arranged as follows: Study related theory is discussed in
theoretical development section. The research methods are captured
in the research methods and data collection segment. Study results
are presented in the data analysis and results section. And finally, the
discussion is presented in the discussion and conclusion section.
1.1 | Theoretical development
The TPB has widely been employed to shed light on performance SEIs
Van Gelderen, Kautonen & Fink (2015). This indicates that, the predic-
tion of intentions is predicated on the three elements of attitude
(ATT), subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioural control (PBC).
Whereas attitude represents the overall evaluation of the individual
relative to a behaviour, subjective norm on the other hand captures
an aggregation of the individuals perceived pressure from people (e.g.,
family, friends, etc.) regarded as important and influential (Ajzen,
1991). Perceived behavioural control (PBC) refers to the ease of use
or difficulty regarding the performance of behaviour. The signifi-
cance of attitude in the performance of behaviour is confirmed by
Ajzen (2002) and Gird and Bagraim (2008). Within the context of the
measurement of behaviour, the stronger the intention, the more
likely the performance of behaviour. Essentially, the broader classifi-
cation of the TPB could be further classified into internal and exter-
nal controls. Whiles internal control signifies the individual's self-
efficacy, external control on the other hand demonstrates the indi-
vidual's opinion about the positivity or negativity surrounding the
environment (Hockerts, 2015).
Initial efforts to advance a research model to explain SEI creation
was developed by Mair and Noboa (2006). The study in utilizing vari-
ous constructs to evaluate social entrepreneurial intentions assert that
intentions develop from perception of feasibility to desirability. This is
such that the greater the individual's perceived feasibility or desirabil-
ity, the greater the prospect to engage in social entrepreneurship.
Attempts have been made by research to develop antecedents to
SEI formation. Tiwari, Bhat, and Tikoria (2017) used the TPB to inves-
tigate Indian students' social entrepreneurial intentions using emo-
tional intelligence, creativity and moral obligation. Their study
revealed creativity and emotional intelligence as cardinal antecedents
to SEI formation. More importantly, the study confirmed that, in addi-
tion to creativity offering fundamental boost and enthusiasm to social
entrepreneurial intention whiles elevating creativity levels, it is also a
LUKMAN ET AL.
conduit to entrepreneurial attraction (Olufunso, 2010). This could be
sufficient to conclude that creativity as an element inherent in entre-
preneurs helps in forging creative ways of tackling social challenges.
In furthering the discourse on the formation of SEIs, Mair and
Noboa (2006) and Yu and Wang (2019) asserted that the subjective-
ness of moral judgement makes it an inappropriate and unsuitable var-
iable to be integrated into business. These studies rather suggested
social responsibility as more appropriate and suitable. A recent study
by Polbitsyn (2018) examining SEIs of Russian university students rev-
ealed contextual factors like entrepreneurial environment and aca-
demic support as necessary factors to enhance SEI. Enhanced by
supportive environment which facilitate the provision of necessary
information, knowledge and skills necessary for social entrepreneur-
ship, entrepreneurial environment was found to be significant.
In investigating the effects of empathy, social responsibility, social
capital, and self-efficacy on SEIs, Yu et al. (2019) revealed that manage-
ment efficacy, stakeholder perspective and communication efficacy
were positively associated with social entrepreneurial conviction while
cognitive empathy was negatively associated with social entrepreneur-
ship preparation. These studies were, however, mere replications.
The study finally extends prior models of SEI formation by adding
antecedent of social volunteering experience and SL with institutional
support as a moderator on the relationship between attitude and
social entrepreneurial intention. Against the backdrop of the foregoing
discourse, this paper argues that individual experience gained from
volunteering in a social organization has the potency to expose them
to experiences of social entrepreneurs. Volunteers could essentially
be exposed not only to the underpinnings of social entrepreneurship
activities, but also the core array of problems entrepreneurs seek to
countervail. The amalgamation of the experience and the knowledge
gained could impel the formation of intention to engage in social
entrepreneurship activities.
2 | R E S E A R C H M O D E L A N D H Y P O T HE S E S
The TPB proposed by Ajzen (1991), as an extension of the theory of
reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), have been employed in vari-
ous studies to measure human behaviours in relations to diverse
endeavours. Within the context of the TPB Model, behavioural inten-
tion is the most important predictor that facilitates the measurement
and assessment of behaviour. Also, the determination of behavioural
intention is predicated on attitude towards behaviour. Seminal
research works have Gathered sufficient theoretical and empirical evi-
dence to corroborate the predictive power of the TPB Model. Fur-
thermore, a review of literature in relations to the use of TPB model
confirms its usage with other constructs adapted or adopted from
prior studies. This underscores not only the appropriateness, but also
the predictive power of the model. More significantly, the model
addresses the issue of what actually underpins and essentially drives
the performance of certain behaviour by individuals. Attitude, a cen-
tral component of the TPB Model represents the individual's like or
dislike towards an object. Intention on the other hand represents the
3 of 12
subjective disposition that the individual is likely or not to perform a
certain behaviour (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Relative to this study, TPB
variables are represented by attitude and intention.
2.1 | Hypothesis development
2.1.1 | Sense of social responsibility
Social responsibility refers to the resolve or obligation to perform and
the tendency to adapt socially acceptable norms valued in the society
via lending a helping hand to the less privileged and fortunate (Hustinx
et al., 2010). Social responsibility is a cardinal factor that motivates
individuals to place value on others' well-being. In this circumstance,
the individual is likely to demonstrate good will and behave in a
socially responsible manner Stukas, Hoye, Nicholson, Brown, and
Aisbett (2016). In Figure 1, the study presents SSR as an antecedent
to attitude. This relationship indicates that, the stronger the diasporan
students' SSR, the stronger the attitude towards social entrepreneur-
ship. Recent studies have provided sufficient empirical evidence to
show, SSR has influence on attitude and intention (Borman, Penner,
Allen, & Motowidlo, 2001; Ernst, 2011). In view of the relationship
confirmed in prior studies, the study proposes that
H1 There is a significant positive relationship between SSR and attitude
towards SEI.
2.2 | Service learning
SL is a teaching technique of engaging learners directly in actions
targeted at tackling societal and humanitarian needs (Jacoby, 1996).
This is specifically intended to stimulate learning and development. SL
has been confirmed as an effective medium that gives positive out-
comes to social entrepreneurship. Precisely, in addition to offering an
opportunity to acquire knowledge, it essentially inspires students, aca-
demic researchers and practitioners alike to engage in entrepreneur-
ship in meaningful context (Kenworthy-U'Ren & Peterson, 2005;
Tucker & McCarthy, 2001; Vining & Ebreo, 1989). Various researches
FIGURE 1 Research model and hypotheses
4 of 12
have pointed out the benefit of SL to social entrepreneurship (Papa-
marcos, 2005). Engagement in SL in organizations equips individuals
with knowledge, skills, ideas and knowledge. These opportunities have
the tendency to contribute to spurring social entrepreneurship activi-
ties in the society. This significantly and positively impacts on lives of
people. In view of the foregoing discourse, we hypothesize that
H2 There is a significant positive relationship between SL and attitude
towards SEI.
2.3 | Social volunteering experience
Social volunteering is said to be a sustained commitment and any form
of pro-social behaviour geared towards helping others. Extending
assistance to others could be realized through a conscious and cau-
tious social initiative (Dwyer, Bono, Snyder, Nov, & Berson, 2013).
Social volunteering experience is the acquired experience an individ-
ual accumulates through practicing as a social volunteer. Volunteering
work fosters the formation of social participation and pro-social atti-
tudes (Christenson, Hougland, Ilvento, & Shepard, 1988; Janoski,
Musick, & Wilson, 1998; Paik & Navarre-Jackson, 2011). Moreover, it
equips the individual with a great wealth of expertise and experience.
To deal with social problems, build social contacts and become accus-
tomed to different environments. In view of this, Vining and Ebreo
(1989) asserts that the habit of consistently taking part in social
volunteering programs are likely to instil a sense of social commitment
in the individual. By extension, these characteristics significantly trig-
ger attitudes toward social entrepreneurial intentions to enhance the
individual's appreciation of various social problems (Ernst, 2011).
Based on this, we propose the following hypothesis.
H3 There is a significant positive relationship between social volunteering
experience and attitude towards social entrepreneurship.
2.4 | Attitude
Attitude has been conceptualized as the individual's evaluation and
assessment towards a particular assignment (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011).
This could be either positive or negative (Tiwari et al., 2017). In other
words, specifically in relations to this study, diaspora-based students'
attitude refers to the degree to which students like or dislike in rela-
tions to performing social entrepreneurship behaviour. In studies
investigating the performance of social entrepreneurship, attitude has
been confirmed as a strong and significant predictor of intention
lu & Hassan,
(Erikson, 1998; Ernst, 2011; Gulruh & Sinem, 2008; Koçog
2013; Krueger & Brazeal, 1994; Polbitsyn, 2018). Intention indicates
the factors that influence the performance of s desired behaviour (e.g.,
social entrepreneurship). This could be explained as a determinant rela-
tive to the performance of behaviour (Bird, 1998; Souitaris, Zerbinati, &
Al-Laham, 2007). Krueger (2017) posits entrepreneurship intention to
be the commitment of a person towards starting a business or an
LUKMAN ET AL.
organization. Summarily intention could be said to represent the
amount or degree of effort an individual would commit towards per-
forming a behaviour (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). The corroboration of the
strong relationship between attitude and intention, all within the TRA
and TPB model suggests individual's attitude to be a sufficient evalua-
tion of the predisposition to perform a behaviour which is a function of
its determinant personal outcome (Ajzen, 2011). From the foregoing
discourse, we hypothesize that
H4 There is a significant positive relationship between attitude and dia-
sporan students' social entrepreneurial intention.
2.5 | Institutional support
Institutional support refers to the various policy support systems. This
come in forms such as funding, operational autonomy, licenses, infor-
mation and technology that government agencies and other adminis-
trative regulators provide for businesses (Li & Atuahene-Gima, 2001).
With regards to institutional support, governments act as key players
in terms of institutional design and policy formulations. Within this
context, dominant social rules, trust systems and the quest for value,
gained in seeking institutional support and organizational legitimacy
must be consistent with the local institutional environment. Institu-
tional support comes with immense benefits such as contributing to
entrepreneurship growth, fostering the perpetual existence of enter-
prises and reducing peripheral reliance. Moreover, institutional sup-
port facilitates access to precious capital. At the same time, it
enhances advancement in external management and organizational
authority and make up for imperfect systems in enterprises (Guo, Xu,
& Jacobs, 2014; Tian, Hafsi, & Wu, 2009; Xin & Pearce, 1996) whiles
alleviating resource scarcity (Li & Atuahene-Gima, 2001). Therefore,
to ensure enterprise growth and social and economic gains, social
entrepreneurs need institutional support. These forms of support
enable new ventures in obtaining external resources to improve per-
formance. The dearth of institutional support in settings results into a
decline in motivation to engage in entrepreneurial activities (Turker &
Selcuk, 2009). The study, therefore, adopts institutional support as a
moderator. We therefore propose that:
H5 There is a significant positive relationship between institutional sup-
port and attitude towards social entrepreneurship.
3 | RE S E A R C H M E T H O D S A N D D A T A
C O L L E C T I ON
The study used the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. This
technique was used for the purposes of model development and verifi-
cation. The use of the SEM technique helped in illustrating the relation-
ship among the six study constructs. The survey for the study were
developed online on Kwik-Survey platform and the questionnaire link
sent to prospective participants via WeChat platforms composed solely
LUKMAN ET AL. 5 of 12

of Ghanaians. The data collection commenced from December 2018 to
February 2019. WeChat is a social media platform used all over China.
The study targeted 500 respondents on three different Ghanaian
WeChat platforms with each platform consisting of over 450 members.
WeChat was chosen as the appropriate questionnaire administration
medium because, in addition to being the largest social media platform
used in China, it is also easily accessible to students in China and facili-
tates quick response to the questionnaires. A total of 322 responses
were collected from all three platforms using convenience sampling
method with a response rate of 64.4%. The reasons for choosing these
samples from China was due to the following three reasons.
First, as part of a national policy geared towards increasing eco-
nomic growth and opening up the social system, China has begun
awarding various scholarships to students from all walks of life
(Tetteh, Teye, & Abosi, 2019). Within the broader scheme of China's
national policy, the scholarship scheme is targeted at providing vari-
ous forms of academic scholarships to about 500,000 students by the
year 2020 (Ding, 2016). This has facilitated the entry of International
Students from various countries including Ghanaian. And because this
has been the case, since the year 2004, the population of Interna-
tional Students in China has increased exponentially (Zhang
et al., 2012).
Second, a World Bank report (World Bank, 2016) revealed that a
significant number of Ghanaian student's study and live abroad. This
has offered them an opportunity to learn from developed nations.
With this opportunity, students may find themselves in a position to
make significant contributions to the socio-economic development of
Ghana. More particularly, given the monumental economic growth in
China, the study targets Ghanaian students in China because of the
assumption that their exposure could offer them a rare opportunity to
tap into ideas which could be harnessed to enhance social entrepre-
neurial activities in Ghana. This is against the backdrop of the asser-
tion that most social entrepreneurs are individuals who studied
abroad (Abdul-Rahman, 2017).
And finally, diasporan students in China were selected on the
basis of the suggestion of (Bacq & Alt, 2018; Hockerts, 2017), who
justifies the appropriateness of selecting a sample population of indi-
vidual students confronting their major career decision for entrepre-
neurship related studies. This justifies the reason for choosing this
sample to know the intention of these students to engage in social
entrepreneurship if they return to their home country. The survey
was made up of 18 items spread over chosen constructs adapted from
the respondents. A brief overview of the study was provided to
respondents regarding the study purpose. This was captured at the
start of the questionnaire to aid respondents understanding of the
study. Respondents were assured of the confidentiality of the
information provided. They were also assured that information
provided would be used for academic research purposes only. For
this reason, respondents were not asked to provide their names
and contact details.
The result of the demographics shows that majority of the
respondents are males (55%) with age ranging from 30 to 39. Most of
them were PhD students (61.8) with undergraduates being the
lowest.
4 | DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
To verify the relationship among the variables and to test the research
model, the study used the SEM approach along with the analysis of
moment structures (AMOS) version 24. The reason for using the SEM
approach was because of its strength in terms of facilitating the use of
some observed variables to measure an unobserved variable. And in
analyzing the study data, measurement model was used in verifying
and confirming the validity and consistency of constructs. This also
helped in testing the structural model and hypothesis. We again used
hierarchical regression in SPSS 25 in measuring the moderating
effects of institutional support.
4.1 | Model analysis
The study used the statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) soft-
ware version 25 to conduct an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). This
was to examine values of factor loadings greater than 0.5. The EFA
analysis results indicate that, outcomes were consistent with bench-
mark threshold. This is an indication of validation of the proposed
model. Furthermore, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for
the measurement model test. This was precisely made up of validity
TABLE 1 Demographic profile of respondents
Demographics Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender:

prior studies that had validated them. To ensure that the questions Male 177 55.0
suit the studies, the researchers made some few changes in the lines Female 145 45.0
of the questions. The items for SSR were adapted from Ernst (2011). Age:
Also, items for SL were adapted from Perry (2010). Similarly, items for 20–29 135 41.9
social volunteering experience were adapted from Hockerts (2017). 30–39 183 56.8
Moreover, items for attitude were adapted from Ernst (2011). Fur- 40+ 4 1.2
thermore, items for institutional support were adapted from Guo et al.
Education:
(2014) and Li and Atuahene-Gima (2001). Finally, SEI items were
Undergraduate 53 16.5
adapted from Ernst (2011). A five-point Likert scale ranging from
Masters 70 21.7
strongly disagree to strongly agree was used to obtain responses from
PhD 199 61.8
the respondents for this study. Table 1 shows the demographics of
6 of 12 LUKMAN ET AL.

and reliability test. The researchers conducted an initial purification of Moreover, in analyzing, the principal component analysis method was
items using factor analysis. Results of factor loadings revealed items used. In conducting reliability test, values of Cronbach alpha were rev-
to be greater than 0.7. This threshold is enough to run SEM technique. ealed to be greater than 0.7. This is an indication of a sufficient and
good reliability of scale (Fornell & Larcker, 1981; Hair, Black, Babin, &
TABLE 2 Results of factor analysis Anderson, 2010). Results are captured in Table 2. Also convergent
validity test was conducted using average variance extracted (AVE)
Factor Cronbach
Construct Items loadings alpha values CR AVE and composite reliability measures. Data analysis revealed all compos-
ite reliability scores of variables to be above 0.7. This demonstrates
Sense of social SSR1 .707 0.790 0.875 0.703
responsibility the reliability and sufficient representation of constructs (Hair, Ander-
SSR2 .881
(SSR) son, Tatham, & Black, 1998; Wu, 2010). Values of AVE greater than
SSR3 .912
0.5 signifies a good convergent validity for the study instrument.
Service learning SL1 .811 0.743 0.848 0.651
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981). In situations where measures do not corre-
(SL) SL2 .825
late with other measures for which it is supposed to differ, measures
SL3 .784 of AVE could be used to describe discriminant validity. As captured in
Social volunteering SVE1 .824 0.726 0.841 0.639 Table 3 AVE square roots are revealed to greater than correlations
experience (SVE) SVE2 .841 among constructs. This is an indication of a god convergent validity.
SVE3 .729
Attitude (ATT) ATT1 .708 0.725 0.837 0.633
ATT2 .877 4.2 | Measurement and structural equation
ATT3 .794 modelling
Institutional IS1 .815 0.767 0.883 0.716
support (IS) The research used AMOS version 24 to evaluate goodness of fit of
IS2 .846
the structural and measurement model. This was also essentially used
IS3 .877
to examine the degree of significance of the various hypothesis path.
Social SEI1 .866 0.809 0.859 0.670
In this regard, various dimensions tested included; degree of freedom
entrepreneurship SEI2 .819
intention (SEI) (df ), comparative fit index, normed fit index, incremental fit index, par-
SEI3 .768
simonious comparative normed fit index and root square mean error
Abbreviations: AVE, Average variance extracted; CR, composite reliability. of approximation. These indices, moly employed to signify various

T A B L E 3 Composite reliability,
Construct Mean SD SSR SVE SL ATT SEI IS
average variance extracted and
SSR 8.9348 3.71309 .838 correlation
SVE 10.2795 2.95176 −.168** .799
SL 9.8323 3.09806 .091 −.104 .807
ATT 11.3292 2.73155 .174** −.106 .205** .796
SEI 12.0404 2.61465 −.068 .010 .125* .175** .819
IS 10.6988 3.02007 .044 .067 −.004 −.056 .164** .846

Abbreviations: ATT, attitude; IS, institutional support; SEI, social entrepreneurship Intention; SL, service
learning; SSR, sense of social responsibility; SVE, social volunteering experience.
**p < .01.; *p < .05.

T A B L E 4 Fit Indices for the

Results
measurement and structural model
Measurement Indices Criterion Measurement model Structural model
Absolute fit measures AGFI >0.8 0.958 0.911
GFI >0.9 0.978 0.932
RMSEA <0.08 0.036 0.045
Incremental fit measures NFI >0.9 0.957 0.881
CFI >0.9 0.987 0.949
IFI >0.9 0.987 0.949
CMIN/DF <3.00 1.425 1.659
LUKMAN ET AL. 7 of 12

classifications of model fit measures were used to test the entire
model fitness as captured in Table 4. The measures for these indices
were consistent with Wu (2010). To test the significance level of
hypothesis, this study used AMOS Version 24 and evaluated the
decency of fit and measurement model enabling the use of a variety
of indices in testing the fitness and observes various model fit mea-
sures. On this basis, in line with the recommendation of (Bentler,
1992; Elkaseh, Wong, & Fung, 2016; Hair et al., 1998; Wu, 2010), the
measurement and structural model could be concluded to acceptable.
4.3 | Hypothesis testing and effect
After testing the goodness of fit indices for the model, the model
measurement was validated and the hypothesis tested. Table 5 indi-
cates that the results of path analysis using AMOS version 25. The
results reveal that SSR-ATT (β = .084, p < .001). This is in support of
hypothesis 1. Also, results showed that the path from SL-ATT (β = .
218, p < .001) was also consistent with hypothesis 2. The study
results further revealed that the path from SVE-ATT (β = = −.113,
p > .05) was not in support of hypothesis 3. Finally, the results of path
analysis indicated that ATT-SEI (β = .084, p < .001) was in support of
hypothesis 4. The results of hypothesis testing and effects are cap-
tured in Table 5.
test, the three-step approach proposed by (Baron & Kenny, 1986)
was adopted. In the first step, there should be a significant influ-
ence of the IV on the dependent variable (DV). In the second step,
the IV should have significant influence on the mediator (M) and in
the last step, M should influence the DV significantly. At the same
time, when the IV does not significantly influence the DV, then we
can say that there is full mediation effect. Nonetheless, when the
M and IV do not significantly influence the DV, then we can say
there is partial mediation. In a situation whereby there is no signifi-
cant influence between the DV and IV as pertains in the first and
second steps, then there is no mediation effect. The result of medi-
ation analysis shows that attitude partially mediates all the rela-
tionships between the IVs and the DV. Furthermore, the result
suggests that all the IVs have indirect effect on SEI through atti-
tude. The results of mediation analysis indicate that an increase in
attitude may not be dependent on one or two DV. This however
said, it is relevant to state that, an increase in attitude will essen-
tially be guaranteed by the additive effects of all the three IVs and
their collective incremental contribution to attitude. These effects
would then inform the final measurement of intention.
TABLE 7 Direct and indirect effect analysis

IV M DV Direct effect IV ! M ! SEI

4.4 | Test of mediating effect SSR ATT SEI .176*** .145***
SL ATT SEI .358*** .211***
In this study, the independent variables (IVs) (SSR, SL, SVE) affect SVE ATT SEI .347*** .159***
social entrepreneurship intention indirectly (Tables 6 and 7), whilst
Note: ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05.
attitude mediate this relationship. In carrying out the mediation effect
Abbreviations: ATT, attitude; DV, dependent variable; IV, independent
variable; SEI, social entrepreneurship intention; SL, service learning; SSR,
sense of social responsibility; SVE, social volunteering experience.
TABLE 5 Path coefficients of the structural model

Path Path weight (β) p values Hypothesis Results

SSR ! ATT 0.084 .001 H1 Supported TABLE 8 Hierarchical regression analysis
SL ! ATT 0.218 .001 H2 Supported
Construct Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
SVE ! ATT −0.113 .131 H3 Supported
Attitude (ATT) .167** .177** −.095
ATT ! SEI 0.181 .008 H4 Supported
Institutional support (IS) −.151** −.580*
Abbreviations: ATT, attitude; SEI, social entrepreneurship Intention; SL, ATT× IS .112*
service learning; SSR, sense of social responsibility; SVE, social
volunteering experience. Note: ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05.

TABLE 6 Mediation effect analysis

IV + M ! DV
Mediating
IV M DV IV ! DV IV ! M IV ! DV M ! DV
SSR ATT SEI .202*** .321*** .057 .453*** Partial
SL ATT SEI .480*** .466*** .269*** .453*** Partial
SVE ATT SEI .503*** .350*** .345*** .453*** Partial

Note: ***p < .001, **p < .01, *p < .05.

Abbreviations: ATT, attitude; DV, dependent variable; IV, independent variable; SEI, social
entrepreneurship intention; SL, service learning; SSR, sense of social responsibility; SVE, social
volunteering experience.
8 of 12
Moderation Graph
4.3
4.2
4.1
Low SI
4 uted to reforming the development landscape across various polities.
SEI
High SI
3.9
3.8
3.7
3.6
Low ATT High ATT
F I G U R E 2 Moderating effect of Institutional support on the
relationship between attitude and social entrepreneurship intention
4.5 | Moderating effect of institutional support
Hierarchical regression in SPSS version 25 allows researchers explore
critical significance of their variables. This study explored how institu-
tional support can moderate between attitude and SEIs. Results of
unstandardized regression coefficients signifying the interaction of
attitude as an IV and Institutional support as a moderator is captured
in Table 8. The moderator moderates the relationship between the
independent and dependent variable while also acting as an IV per-
forming the moderating effects. Interaction then becomes our product
variable used in the study. The study found attitude and SEIs as posi-
tively related. This confirms hypothesis 4 (see Table 5).
Figure 2 indicates that institutional support as moderator has a
significant moderation effect on the relationship between attitude
and SEIs. This could be interpreted to mean that Institutional support
could enhance or enable the formation of SEIs among diasporan stu-
dents. This result is a confirmation of hypothesis 5.
5 | DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Essentially, this seminal study contributes to the already existing few
literatures on social entrepreneurship-related studies through the uti-
lization of the TPB model integrated with other variables meant to
enhance a better understanding of factors that could influence Gha-
naian diasporan students based in China. The use of a theoretical
framework to enhance and identify SEIs, to the best of the knowledge
of the authors has not been sufficiently explored, particularly within
the Ghanaian context.
Consequently, the study set out to find out Ghanaian diasporan
students' intention towards social entrepreneurship by using anteced-
ent of SSR, social volunteering experience and SL on attitude towards
SEIs. The study tested the effect of SSR, SL and social volunteering
experience on attitude towards SEI and the moderating role of institu-
tional support by adopting the TPB as a theoretical framework. Social
LUKMAN ET AL.
entrepreneurship has in recent times become a tool for driving and
complementing development efforts in developed and developing
countries. As an emerging global phenomenon, its potency is much
felt in developing countries, especially those in Africa and Asia where
poverty, hardships and underdevelopment is found to be pervasive.
More importantly, social entrepreneurship has substantially contrib-
Hitherto, development efforts were largely state-led or driven. How-
ever, in recent times, with the recognition and general acceptance,
social entrepreneurship has rendered development as a complemen-
tary effort between state and non-state actors. Social entrepreneur-
ship fosters the creation of germane avenues that could be harnessed
to create employment avenues, thereby reducing unemployment,
poverty and other retrogressive ramifications.
The study findings revealed that, SSR has a significant positive
relationship with attitude towards social entrepreneurship. This find-
ing could be interpreted to mean, the individual resolve or commit-
ment to deploy his or her resources (e.g., financial or talent), out of
good will considerations to remedy an undesirable social situation like
underdevelopment or unemployment could significantly inform the
formation of a positive or strong attitudes towards social entrepre-
neurship. This study finding is consistent with the prior findings of
Ernst (2011) who has established an empirical correlation between
SSR and individual attitude.
Moreover, the study findings indicate that SL as a signifying posi-
tive relationship with individual attitude towards social entrepreneur-
ship. This finding is consistent with previous research (Fuller et al.,
2015). This lends credence to the fact that students who participate
in SL oriented programs are more experience in terms of cultural com-
petency. This imbibes them with the ability to recognize social
inequalities than students who have not, noting that, the result leads
to intention and action towards social change.
Besides, study results revealed no significant relationship between
social volunteering experience and attitude towards social entrepre-
neurship. This finding is quite different in the SEI literature. To the best
of our knowledge, most prior studies found the direct effect on SEI not
attitude. However, these studies chose to study this relationship
because from the context of Ghana, the concept of social entrepreneur-
ship is entirely new (Abdul-Rahman, 2017) hence developing intentions
requires attitude. Second, social entrepreneurship aims at fighting social
problems with little concern towards profit making unlike commercial
entrepreneurship. This makes it necessary to study the effect of these
variables on attitude to social entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, the study results indicated that, Attitude has a posi-
tive relationship with SEI. This is in tandem with the findings of Ernst
(2011) and Polbitsyn (2018). Given that attitude represents a positive
or negative evaluation of an action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), the pos-
sible interpretation or implications of this finding could be that people
with positive attitude, outlook or evaluation, regarding social enter-
prises are more likely to develop SEI. Conversely, those with negative
attitude are less likely to develop such intention. From the foregoing,
it could be concluded that the more positive or stronger the attitude,
the more likely the tendency to develop SEI. The opposite also holds.
LUKMAN ET AL.
The results of moderating effect of Institutional support on the
relationship between attitude and SEI was significant. This result sup-
ports the findings of previous studies (Xie & Lv, 2018,). This suggests
that the existence of institutional support mechanism can substan-
tially drive attitudes towards social entrepreneurship. Therefore, to
increase social entrepreneurship, more institutional support in the
form of financial and non-financial (e.g., funding, training, incubation,
etc.) support should be made available and easily accessible to would
be social entrepreneurs.
Results of the mediation analysis revealed that, SSR, SL, SVE, signifi-
cantly have indirect effect on SEI through attitude. The direct relation-
ships were all significant. All the three IV (SSR, SVE, SL) directly affect
SEI without attitude. Furthermore, the result suggests that attitude does
not necessarily influence SEI. It however exerts some degree of influ-
ence. SSR, SVE, and SL directly influence the development of social
entrepreneurship. The result of social volunteering experience to social
entrepreneurial intentions did not support the hypothesis. This confirms
previous findings of Chinchilla and Garcia (2017) which found that social
volunteering experience is not a requirement to generate SEI but rather
entrepreneurship training. As far as this study is concerned, the findings
of the direct effect regarding SL and SSR are novel. To the knowledge of
the authors, there is a dearth of research inquisition on this context.
6 | C O N CL U S I O N A ND
RECOMMENDATION
The study result revealed attitude towards social entrepreneurship as
a significant predictor of SEI. This calls for the institution of measures
meant to enhance the forging of positive and strong attitudes geared
towards the formation of SEIs. Furthermore, the results indicate that,
individuals value the existence of government and non-government
institutional support measures as a mechanism that enhances social
entrepreneurial activities and growth. This underscores the pertinence
of a germane institutional environment to accelerating social entre-
preneurship in Ghana. From the foregoing discussion, the study sug-
gests that government should provide various forms of support
services ranging from training, incubation and mentoring and financial
assistance to both existing and prospective social entrepreneurs. The
institution of such measures is likely to have a bandwagon effect on
individuals to venture into social entrepreneurship.
Moreover, as part of broader measures to propel SEI among dia-
sporan students, educators and education institutions should strive to
integrate service-learning components into their curricular as part of
study requirements. This arrangement will further expose students to
practical entrepreneurial knowledge from working environments. Merg-
ing this practical knowledge with the theory-based knowledge acquired
in class would enhance an appreciation and possibly, a deeper under-
standing of the complexities and nuances undergirding the enterprise of
social entrepreneurship.
Specifically, practical courses geared towards acquiring and sharp-
ening the problem-solving potentials of students should be well
planned and incepted. Going forward, social groupings, whether
9 of 12
religious or non-religious can help by organizing regular volunteering
engagements for members. Student associations such as the National
Union of Ghana Students and other allied bodies should facilitate the
creation of opportunities for students to undergo practical training in
some selected Chinese enterprises. These bodies should exert efforts
in entreating students to form joint partnerships meant to strengthen
social entrepreneurial relations. Students can also promote social
entrepreneurship through teaching, research, seminars, symposium
and forming social clubs in the various institutions of higher learning.
Institutions as part of their social responsibility can also support
social organizations by providing incentives for individuals engaged in
volunteering. Policy makers can also create an avenue to encourage
students who engage in volunteering services. Furthermore, the result
of SSR revealed the desires of Ghanaian diasporan students to con-
tribute to the development of Ghana. In the quest to improve SEIs,
efforts should be made to inculcate the principles of social responsibil-
ity in the youth. This could be done by teaching societal norms. This
can instil some appreciable dosage of patriotism in citizens. The media
can help by disseminating information about social entrepreneurship
to create awareness. This can result in generating potential innovation
that can help tackle social problems.
7 | LIM I TAT I ON S A N D FUTU RE R E SE ARC H
The study is subject to a number of limitations. First, the current research
only focused on a sample of Ghanaian students studying in China. This
may not reflect the attitude of the Ghanaians students studying in other
developed jurisdictions. As such, a generalization or possible replication
of the study findings should be done cautiously. The utilization of the
model, further opens room for addition of more constructs to predict
entrepreneurial intention. The limited sample size may call for an
increased study population in future studies. In this regard, a longitudinal
study may help add more insight into future studies.
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1748-9326/7/4/04570

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHI ES

Sadia Lukman, the author is a masters student and a researcher

studying Masters in public administration in the University of Sci-
ence and Technology of China. Her research interest includes
entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and innovation.
12 of 12 LUKMAN ET AL.

APPENDIX

Category Qstn# Question

Demographic 1 Gender
information 2 Age
3 Level of education
Social 4 I am prepared to be a social
entrepreneurship entrepreneur
intention 5 My career objective is to become a
social entrepreneur
6 I am determining to create a social
venture in the near future
Attitude towards 7 If I had the opportunity and resource,
becoming a social I would like to start a social
entrepreneur enterprise
8 I will be happy if I become a social
entrepreneur
Service learning 9 Among various options, I would rather
choose to be a social entrepreneur.
10 Through service learning, I would
develop new skills I would be
developing new skills through
service learning.
11 Service learning is an important
component of tackling social
problem.
12 Offer a valuable service to society
through service learning.
Institutional support 14 In Ghana, social entrepreneurs
stimulated by public, private,
structural and non-governmental
organization.
15 In Ghana, there are incubators or
business centers which provide
assistance to social entrepreneurs
to meet and exchange ideas.
16 Taking loans in Ghana is quite easy.
Sense of social 17 I want to support people who have no
responsibility lobby or social support.
18 I would like to show solidarity for
groups in need.
19 I want to create social change.
Social volunteering 20 I have volunteered or otherwise
experience. worked with social organizations.
21 My experience as a social volunteer
has made me know a lot about
social problems.
22 Knowing a lot about social
organizations encourages me to
start a social entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship intention (Ernst, 2011), Attitude towards behaviour (Ernst, 2011), Service learning (Parry, 2010), Sense of social responsi-
bility (Ernst, 2011), Social volunteering experience (Hockerts, 2017), Institutional support (Guo et al., 2014; Li & Atuahene-Gima, 2001).