Religiosity, Government Favouritism, and Entrepreneurial Intention: Empirical Evidence among University Students in Malaysia

Abstract

Religion is no longer isolated from secular activities, including business. Many scholars hold that religious identity plays a vital role in a person's decision whether or not to be an entrepreneur. However, government favouritism for a particular religion could hinder entrepreneurialism amongst believers of other religions. To provide empirical evidence of it, this study examines whether the level of religiosity affects the entrepreneurial intention of individuals, and whether government favouritism influences the entrepreneurial intention of individuals in 'preferred versus non-preferred' religions. We tested our hypotheses using Entrepreneurial Student Survey (ESS) 2018-2019 data from 316 university students in Malaysia, analysed through ordered logit regressions. From the analysis, we found that government favouritism towards Islam has no effect on the entrepreneurial intention of Muslim students, nor does it discourage non-Muslim students from becoming entrepreneurs. Instead, the results show that entrepreneurial intention is strongly influenced by students' religiosity, regardless of the religion. In sum, this research suggests that the contemplation of entrepreneurship is determined by individual religiosity, not the institutional predisposition for religious groups. In terms of the policy implications, it is a strong signal for religious leaders to preach and promote entrepreneurship among their believers.