| Summary: | Entrepreneurial activities and venture creation among youths represent one of the key drivers of job creation and economic growth (OECD, 2016; Acs, 2006). What influences individual entrepreneur to business start-up remains an enduring issue of interest in academic research on entrepreneurship. Recent studies suggest that the institutional context plays a key role in influencing individual behaviour, as well as in facilitating entrepreneurial climate for new ventures. Researchers also identify entrepreneurial orientation as a key process in the development of new ventures, and successful firm performance, however, the construct is yet to be investigated at the individual level. While considerable number of studies has identified micro level explanations such as individual characteristics, and traits for successful entrepreneurial venture, few studies have considered this issue from a multi-dimensional context (Spring, 2015; Bruton, 2012; Hayton et al., 2002). This study draws on institutional theory as a valuable lens to investigate the extent to which the regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive environments affect individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and self-employment among Nigerian youths. The study adopts a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approach, and data collection was conducted in two phases. For the qualitative data, 22 semi-structured interviews were conducted among 18 youths and 4 policy makers using purposive sampling. Whilst, for the quantitative phase, survey questionnaire was administered to a sample of 482 student respondents, thematic analysis and hierarchical regression were used in analysing the qualitative and quantitative data respectively. Contrary to previous findings on high societal values for entrepreneurial and venture creation in a factor driven economy like Africa, findings from the study revealed a spatial variation in enterprise culture and individual entrepreneurial orientation among the university-educated Nigerian youth. Beyond this variation, the level of individual entrepreneurial orientation among Nigerian youths is low. The findings revealed that the prevailing societal expectations and norms that young people are exposed to, ascribe high social values and preferences to office jobs and career opportunity in the formal sector xv which negatively affects their individual entrepreneurial orientation and potential venture creation. Further findings from the hierarchically regression analysis indicates that the regulative institution constitutes a significant challenge to individual entrepreneurial orientation and venture creation. These findings are interesting and important because they reveal the complex but dynamic role of institutional context for the rate and mode of entrepreneurial engagement within the society. Overall, this study establishes that institutional environments are not mutually exclusive; they are unique in their structure and dimensions as they all combined to explain the unrealised entrepreneurial engagement among youths.
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