Building a Dynamic Model of Entrepreneurial Intention Formation in Sharing Economy Platform: The Resource-Based Theory Approach

Although traditional entrepreneurship has long been acknowledged as a driving force of economic development and employment, the emergence of the Internet and the development of mobile devices provide a new paradigm of business economy called sharing economy. Peer-to-peer sharing economy platform contributes to the generation of a new form of entrepreneurship, which allows entrepreneurs to supply and exchange resources, products, and services with customers for profit. Despite such contributions, few researchers investigate entrepreneurship in sharing economy and identify the difference between entrepreneurship in traditional businesses and on the sharing economy platform. This study primarily aims to explore the context of entrepreneurial intention on the sharing economy platform. The resource-based approach (Connor, 1991; Rumelt, 1987) is employed to demonstrate how different capital resources influence the self-perception of future entrepreneurs and their attitude toward an entrepreneurial venture on the sharing economy platform. To realize the main aim of this study, a new scale is developed to precisely reflect the essential resources in an entrepreneurial venture on the sharing economy platform. In study I, a new scale of entrepreneurial capital is developed from a qualitative approach of item generation. A 24-item entrepreneurial capital scale with four dimensions (financial, social, intellectual, and human capital) is produced. For the subsequent scale purification, a quantitative approach is employed, and 150 responses are analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Four capital resources are classified under the second-order factor model with one second-order factor (entrepreneurial capitals) and four capital sub-constructs. Study II aims to validate the scale developed in study I and generate a structural model describing the relationships between (1) entrepreneurial capital and perception and (2) perception and intention. To validate the scale of entrepreneurial capital on the sharing economy platform, 308 responses are analyzed to acquire the best measurement model of perception and test the research hypotheses using structural equation modeling. Seventeen items of entrepreneurial capital are validated. Eleven items loaded on to three first-order factors (feasibility, desirability, and propensity) that contributed to one second-order factor (perception) are also supported. Finally, two hypotheses regarding the relationship among entrepreneurial capital, perception, and entrepreneurship intention are tested and supported. Entrepreneurial capital resources significantly affect the perception of individuals toward an entrepreneurial venture on the sharing economy platform. Perception also leads to overall entrepreneurship intention. This study develops a new scale of entrepreneurial capital and an original measurement model of perception toward an entrepreneurial venture on the sharing economy platform. Comprehensive understanding enables this research to confirm the holistic model of entrepreneurship intention formation on the sharing economy platform. This study contributes to the body of literature regarding entrepreneurship, sharing economy, and the hospitality industry by significantly elaborating entrepreneurial intention in the context of the new economic platform. This study also benefits practitioners and educators by assessing and guiding capital resources in a business venture on the sharing economy platform