Unleashing sustainable entrepreneurship through innovation

Despite growing interest in sustainable entrepreneurship, research on sustainable entrepreneurial intention (SEI) among Saudi youth remains fragmented, with limited understanding of how individual capabilities, psychological mechanisms, and ecosystem conditions jointly shape such intentions. This study addresses this gap by examining how talent development exposure (TDE), sustainability orientation (SUO), and social innovation capability (SIC) influence SEI among university students and recent graduates in Saudi Arabia. It further investigates the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) between TDE and SEI, and the moderating effect of the perceived entrepreneurial ecosystem (PEE) on the SIC–SEI relationship. A two-wave cross-sectional survey design was employed to reduce common method bias, with data collected from 242 participants. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for analysis, underpinned by an integrated framework drawing on social cognitive career theory (SCCT), value–belief–norm (VBN) theory, the entrepreneurial event model (EEM), and entrepreneurial ecosystem theory (EET). TDE and SUO significantly influence SEI, and ESE significantly mediates the TDE–SEI relationship. However, SIC does not exert a significant direct effect on SEI, and PEE does not moderate the SIC–SEI relationship, suggesting that ecosystem conditions alone are insufficient to activate individual innovation capabilities in this context. These findings carry important implications for policymakers and educators seeking to strengthen sustainable entrepreneurship under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, particularly through targeted talent development programs, sustainability-embedded curricula, and improved access to incubators and funding networks. Theoretically, this study makes three contributions: it proposes and tests a multi-theory integrated model of SEI not previously examined in an emerging economy context; it establishes ESE as a mediating mechanism linking TDE to SEI; and it identifies meaningful boundary conditions through the non-significant roles of SIC and PEE, challenging assumptions about the universality of ecosystem effects in sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship research

Ecosystem · Emerging markets · Entrepreneurial Orientation · Entrepreneurship · Social cognitive theory · Structural equation modeling · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Higher Education and Employability