Attracting the entrepreneurial potential: A multilevel institutional approach

•Our research sheds light on multilevel role of informal institutions in shaping entrepreneurial potential across countries.•We define entrepreneurial potential as non-entrepreneurs with perceived necessary skills to engage in entrepreneurship.•Informal country-level institutions offset the lack of individual-level factors in low levels of entrepreneurial potential.•Educational programs can close the gap between entrepreneurially skilled non-potential and potential individuals. The research on institutions’ role in entrepreneurship acknowledges that formal and informal institutions matter. However, previous research has stressed less the co-existence and interaction between individual- and country-level factors that shape entrepreneurial potential, population of skillful individuals with no entrepreneurial intentions, across countries. In this study, we investigate the multilevel influence of informal institutions on entrepreneurial potential. Drawing from institutional theory and multilevel approach in a sample of 880,576 individuals for the period 2006–2016, we find that the informal country-level institutional forces compensate the lack of individual-level factors among those with low entrepreneurial potential. For instance, media coverage on entrepreneurship or education can enhance the entrepreneurial potential in its lower end. Hence, our findings provide novel evidence on the relevance and interaction of the informal institutions, and how they increase the entrepreneurial potential across countries. Our findings suggest policy implications regarding educational programs to close the gap between entrepreneurially skilled non-potential and skilled potential individuals.