Int. J. Business and Globalisation, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2009 47 Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. A comparative study of cultural influences on intentions to found a new venture in Germany and Poland Ricarda B. Bouncken*, Jevgenija Zagvozdina and Andreas Golze Department of Organization, HR and Innovation, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald, Friedrich – Loefflerstr, 70/D 17487 Greifswald, Germany Fax: +49 3834 862413 E-mail: bouncken@uni-greifswald.de E-mail: j.zagvozdina@uni-greifswald.de E-mail: golze@uni-greifswald.de *Corresponding author Anna Mrozewska Technical University, Koszalin, ul.Kwiatkowskiego 6e PL 75343 Koszalin, Poland Fax:+48 94 3439169 E-mail: amrozewska@yahoo.com Abstract: This study investigates cultural antecedents of • motivators • intentions of new venture-generation. By using a sophisticated data analysis method – multi-group structural equation modelling – we compare German and Polish MBA students in order to study cultural influences on entrepreneurship. In general, we find some similar, but also contrasting, results through the analyses of three cultural dimensions: • power distance • collectivism • individualism. Also, results show that in both countries the motivation to start a new venture leads to the intent to start a new venture. This study not only considers different cultural antecedents, but also indirectly analyses the dissimilarities between a developed and a transitional economy. Keywords: culture; entrepreneurship; structural equation modelling; multi-group comparison; transition countries.