Comparing Entrepreneurial Criteria of Students in Germany and China within the Pre-start-up Process

Walter Ruda¹, Thomas A. Martin², Rubén Ascúa³, Wolfgang Gerstlberger⁴, Benjamin Danko^5
(1. Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences, Campus Zweibrücken, Germany;
2. Ludwigshafen Rhine University, Germany;
3. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UTN), Argentina;
4. University of Southern Denmark, Institute of Marketing and Management, Odense, Denmark;
5. ZMG German Center for Entrepreneurship, Germany)

Abstract: The paper emerges from the international empirical research project “Starting up Businesses and Entrepreneurship by Students” (GESt Study). It compares start-up ambitions and entrepreneurial criteria of students in Germany and China within the pre-start-up process. The used questionnaire is based on a theoretical reference framework of student start-up propensities. Because of the subject- and process-oriented nature of the analysis, student requirements can be analyzed target group-differentiated. The results implicate students in Germany being hindered particularly by their comparatively high risk avoidance and students in China with their stronger intrinsic start-up motivation lacking especially in basic entrepreneurship sensitization.

Key words: GESt Study; entrepreneurial criteria; pre-start-up process; Germany; China

JEL code: L26