Context-specific entrepreneurial environment scale: a psychometric analysis

Abstract

The entrepreneurial environment has a significant impact on entrepreneurial motivations. In the Philippines, where entrepreneurship and innovation are gaining momentum, an increasing number of individuals are embarking on an entrepreneurial journey. However, despite the existing tools in the entrepreneurial environment, a validated, reliable, and context-specific scale tailored to Ifugao entrepreneurship students remains lacking. Thus, this study aims to analyze the psychometric characteristics of a refined version of the questionnaire on entrepreneurial environment that affects the propensity for entrepreneurial activity among Ifugao entrepreneurship students. The study employed a quantitative research design, utilizing a cross-sectional survey approach. The instrument comprises a total of 25 items with a factor design structure consisting of five latent factors: socio-economic conditions, financial support, government policies, non-financial support, and education and training. A total of 133 students in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao, Philippines, participated in the study. Data were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through the partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. Subsequently, CFA using SPSS was performed to validate the results. The results showed that there was a total of 24 items, distributed across five subscales. Convergent validity was confirmed, with all average variance extracted (AVE) values exceeding 0.50, while discriminant validity was supported as inter-variable correlations remained below the square root of the AVE. Reliability was robust, with composite reliability (CR) scores exceeding 0.70 and Cronbach’s alpha at 0.905. The results suggest that the Entrepreneurial Environment Scale can serve as a valuable tool for measuring the entrepreneurial environment and informing strategic decisions for future entrepreneurs.