International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 11, No. 5; 2016 ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 57 Why Do Life Scientists Decide to Become Entrepreneurs? The Role of Motivations Nadia Di Paola 1 , Rosanna Spanò 1 , Roberto Vona 1 & Adele Caldarelli 1 1 Dipartimento di Economia, Management, Istituzioni, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy Correspondence: Nadia Di Paola, Dipartimento di Economia, Management, Istituzioni, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Campus Universitario Monte S. Angelo, via Cinthia 26, 80126 Napoli, Italy. E-mail: ndipaola@unina.it Received: February 23, 2016 Accepted: March 9, 2016 Online Published: April 18, 2016 doi:10.5539/ijbm.v11n5p57 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v11n5p57 Abstract The linkage between entrepreneurial ideas and actions continues to be central to the entrepreneurship debate. However, the possible implications of the various entrepreneurial motivations for the process are still largely understudied. On this basis, our study aims to contextualise the theoretical model linking entrepreneurial intentions, motivations and actions, with particular reference to academic entrepreneurship within the Life Sciences. We use the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) set-theoretic method to process data gathered amongst 25 scholars active in the Life Sciences context. We carried out the analysis in two steps. The first reveals that a condition which determines entrepreneurial intentions is the absence of normative beliefs together with the presence of control beliefs. In contrast, the research highlights that the entrepreneurial intentions are able to determine the entrepreneurial action. However, as the second step shows, these alone are not sufficient and need to be complemented by extrinsic motivations, that is, those correlated to external incentives/benefits (above all of an economic nature). Our findings offer interesting insights into the whole phenomenon, revealing that the reference to specific contexts may well determine implications which differ from those already detected in the literature, with undeniable effects in terms of managerial and policy implications. Keywords: academic entrepreneurship, intentions, life sciences, motivations, qualitative comparative analysis 1. Introduction In recent years, the attention to questions relating to entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial actions has given rise to a passionate debate. Studies commonly employ two theoretical approaches to address the issues relating to entrepreneurial intentions. In his theory of planned behaviour (TPB), Ajzen (1991) explains entrepreneurial behaviour in terms of the attitude towards it, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control. In contrast, the entrepreneurial event model (EEM; Shapero & Sokol, 1982) explains entrepreneurial intentions in terms of perceived desirability, perceived feasibility and propensity to act. In both cases, the link between intentions and actions is considered linear, so the former are regarded as a proxy for the behaviour which the individual puts in place. Another stream of researchers argues that the process leading from the entrepreneurial intentions to the entrepreneurial actions is not always linear (Gollwitzer & Brandstatter, 1997). On this ground, an increasing number of academics have attempted to understand whether other aspects – such as motivations and contextual elements – may influence entrepreneurial processes. In particular, Gollwitzer and Brandstatter (1998), argue that the entrepreneurial motivations may intervene in the process. Entrepreneurial intentions still remain a good predictor of entrepreneurial actions, but the way in which the former results in the latter may depend upon entrepreneurial motivations (Carsrud & Brännback, 2011). Prior studies confirm that there is still room for further research on entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial actions (Schlaegel & Koenig, 2014; Enkel & Bader, 2015) and that the possible implications of various entrepreneurial motivations on the structure of the new venture are still largely understudied. Indeed, although several studies have addressed the abovementioned issues, the compartmentalised approaches adopted – usually leading to consideration of one-to-one relationships between variables – have hidden the effects of the crucial interactions between these factors in determining entrepreneurial choices.