From entrepreneurial cognition to entrepreneurial intention and behavior: The case of higher educational institutions in China

Entrepreneurship has been called “high quality employment” in China. Therefore, universities have paid more attention to entrepreneurship education, which is a crucial element for entrepreneurial success. Based on the theory of “informed intentions” planned behavior and dual cognitive processing theory, this manuscript studies the relationship among entrepreneurial cognition, entrepreneurial intention, recognition perception of university entrepreneurship education, and entrepreneurial behavior from the perspective of mass innovation and mass entrepreneurship in China. The hypotheses are tested using a hierarchical linear regression model based on data from 786 valid questionnaires from more than 400 universities across China. This study finds that student’s entrepreneurial cognition positively affects their entrepreneurial behavior, and entrepreneurial intention plays a mediating role by positively strengthening the relationship between these two, and that the recognition perception of university entrepreneurship education strengthens the positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial behavior. These findings provide a new perspective and framework for studying the entrepreneurial cognitive education of university students, and they have certain practical implications for the reform of entrepreneurship education in China.