The Influence of Human Capital on Re-entry Intention of Indian Micro and Small Enterprise Owners: An Empirical Investigation

Entrepreneurial exit is an important phase of the entrepreneurial process that has a significant impact on enterprises and the economy. Extant research in developed countries has shown that personal and business motives of entrepreneurs trigger exit intentions, which, in turn, affect their choice of exit strategy. Though all-India census indicates that most of the closed enterprises are micro and small enterprises (MSE), the factors influencing the exit decision of the Indian MSE owners still remain largely unexplored due to their unorganised nature. Since the majority of Indian MSEs are owned by individuals, and human capital represents the assets of each individual, this article aims to understand the influence of entrepreneurs’ human capital on exit intention for re-entry using the theory of planned behaviour. This study employs a questionnaire-based survey approach and uses a sample size of 150 MSE owners of working enterprises in industrial estates of Mangalore and Udupi districts for hypotheses testing. Empirical analysis is performed using SPSS software, and the results indicate that entrepreneurs with good health and inherited experience have exit intentions and subsequent entrepreneurial re-entry. This knowledge may be useful for stakeholders to understand serial entrepreneurship with a proper exit mechanism.