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Exploring the Relationship between Entrepreneurship Policy and Entrepreneurial Attitudes and Intentions in Post-Devolution Wales / DANIEL ROBERTS

Swansea University Author: DANIEL ROBERTS

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.57456

Abstract

This thesis develops the understanding of the relationship between place, policy and entrepreneurial intentions among Welsh HE students. Recent decades have seen a growth in interest in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policy among governments and academia, as a means of encouraging economic de...

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Published: Swansea 2021
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Huxtable-Thomas, Louisa ; Jones, Paul
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa57456
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Abstract: This thesis develops the understanding of the relationship between place, policy and entrepreneurial intentions among Welsh HE students. Recent decades have seen a growth in interest in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship policy among governments and academia, as a means of encouraging economic development. A key aspect of this policy aim has been to increase rates of entrepreneurialism among individuals in a given society through the development of a ‘culture of enterprise’. This research focuses on Wales, a country within the United Kingdom which has seen recent political and institutional change through the process of devolution, and saw rapid economic change in the latter decades of the twentieth century through the process of rapid deindustrialisation. The research employs the social constructivist approach to research and utilizes qualitative methods. To develop an understanding of policy in the twenty years since the establishment of the Welsh Government, data was collected in the form of documentary analysis of key political and economic strategy documents, and this was supplemented by interviews with key political figures during the period. To understand entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, data was collected from 25 semi-structured interviews with Welsh HE students from universities both in and outside of Wales, who had varying degrees of interest in entrepreneurship. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of how place and policy interact to inform the development of attitudes and intentions towards entrepreneurial behaviour, with implications for policy and practice for Wales and elsewhere.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Policy, Devolution, Wales, Economic Development, Regional Development, Hysteresis
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences