In emerging economies, the public sector offers a primary source of entrepreneurs. Yet existing studies of entrepreneurship mainly focus on how employees, in either private firms or academic institutions, develop entrepreneurial intentions, leaving the general public sector largely ignored. Given the fundamental differences between the public and private sectors, the current study undertakes a comparative analysis of sectoral differences in the formation of employees’ entrepreneurial intentions, along with a mediation assessment of entrepreneurial human and social capital. Findings from three archival data sources, at multiple levels, suggest that the two mediating mechanisms work in opposite directions: Public employment fosters entrepreneurial intentions through increased entrepreneurial human capital but inhibits entrepreneurial intentions through decreased entrepreneurial social capital. The mediating mechanisms also are differentially moderated by legal effectiveness and privatization.

在新兴经济体中，公共部门是企业家的主要来源。然而，现有的创业研究主要集中在私营公司或学术机构的员工如何发展创业意图，而一般公共部门在很大程度上被忽视了。鉴于公共部门和私营部门之间的根本差异，本研究对员工创业意愿形成的部门差异进行了比较分析，并对创业人力资本和社会资本进行了中介评估。来自三个档案数据源的多层次调查结果表明，这两种中介机制的作用方向相反：公共就业通过增加创业人力资本促进创业意向，但通过减少创业社会资本抑制创业意向。调解机制也受到法律效力和私有化的不同调节。