Entrepreneurial universities and social capital: The moderating role of entrepreneurial intention in the Malaysian context

The mismatch of skills among youth graduates contributes towards existing social and economic challenges of poverty and unemployment especially among youths in most developing countries including Malaysia. Consequently, universities are mandated to transform into Entrepreneurial Universities as a third mission, driving state of the art knowledge, skills acquisition and entre-preneurial mindset that supports technological development and innovations to match up with the emerging needs of Malaysia's economy. Therefore, this study assesses the influence of entrepreneurial universities on the development of social capital. Questionnaires were used to retrieve data from a sample of 382 students in two Institutions. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The direct relationships between the three measures of entrepreneurial university (Input, Process and Output) indicated a positively significant rela-tionship with social capital. However, the moderating effects of Entrepreneurial Intention were supported. Our paper contributes to the literature by examining the role of Entrepreneurial Universities using the three factors of inputs, processes and outputs on social capital development and concurrently examining the moderating effect of Entrepreneurial Intention. It also provides evidence-based support to develop models for emerging entrepreneurial universities in Malaysia which can help the national goal of reducing unemployment due to skill mismatch among graduates.