The purposes of this research are to examine how individuals' cognition is related to the rate of entrepreneurial start-ups and how this relationship can be modified by three institutional pillars.
Drawing upon a multilevel analysis and a global context comprising 67 countries, cross-level analyses are performed to assess the joint effects of entrepreneurial cognition and institutions on the rate of entrepreneurial start-ups.
The findings confirm the role of entrepreneurial cognition (i.e. self-efficacy, risk attitude and opportunity perception) in individuals' decisions to start new businesses and reveal how this relationship can be diversely influenced by country-level institutional pillars.
This paper could be useful for designing policies to promote entrepreneurial activity through institutions in different countries.
The results contribute to the development of theoretical and knowledge bases by offering a multilevel perspective on how entrepreneurial cognition and institutional environments operate as interacting determinants that influence entrepreneurship.
