The Effect of Social Capital on Risk-taking of Entrepreneurship Students (Case study: Faculty of Entrepreneurship in University of Tehran)

The high risk-taking power is one of the most important features of entrepreneur which can lead to production and employment. Risk-taking in turn can be caused by several factors, which provides the requirements of accepting a higher level of risk. Social capital can be considered as a key factor that can play critical role in enhancement of risk-taking level. In this context, current study theoretically and empirically examines the effects of social capital on risk-taking of entrepreneurship students. Population was all students in Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran. The sample size of 252 was calculated using Cochran formula. Convenience sampling plan was employed to collect data. To test hypotheses, ridge regression and Pearson correlation were used. Results indicated that individual and institutional trust has a positive impact on risk-taking of students. In addition, cooperative, and charitable religious participation were found to improve risk-taking of students. However, the impacts of formal participation and public trust on risk-taking were not significant.