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Abstract:
In emerging economies, entrepreneurship has become increasingly attractive for young graduates who cannot find jobs. Governments provide young entrepreneurs with special financing to launch enterprises, create jobs and contribute toward economic development. This study aims to respond to the following: (i) Does this encouragement reinforce adaptive entrepreneurial behaviour? (ii) What specifically drives youth to develop an entrepreneurial identity? This study presented different types of motivations and contrasted them with extant literature, revealing new insights. The methodology involved conducting personal interviews to explore the development of young digital entrepreneurial mentees from pre-start-up to start-up. The findings corroborate with extant literature regarding what drives young and prospective entrepreneurs (necessity, trait, situational and intention-led decisions). However, emerging contextual issues cannot be ignored, and there must be a paradigmatic change of mind-set if developing countries are to succeed in creating a new breed of entrepreneurs with entrepreneurial identity.
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