Entrepreneurship Education as a Catalyst for Community Welfare: An Empirical Examination of Human Capital and Socioeconomic Outcomes

Abstract Entrepreneurship education is increasingly recognized as a strategic instrument for promoting inclusive economic development and enhancing community welfare, yet the mechanisms through which educational investments translate into welfare outcomes remain insufficiently understood. Drawing on human capital theory and institutional theory, this study examines the direct and indirect effects of entrepreneurship education and institutional support on community welfare, with human capital positioned as a mediating mechanism. Using survey data collected from 218 community-based entrepreneurs and MSME actors, the study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that entrepreneurship education has a significant positive effect on both human capital and community welfare, while institutional support exerts a strong influence on human capital but does not directly affect community welfare. Human capital, in turn, has a substantial positive impact on community welfare and mediates the relationships between entrepreneurship education, institutional support, and welfare outcomes. Specifically, human capital partially mediates the effect of entrepreneurship education on community welfare and fully mediates the effect of institutional support. These findings contribute to entrepreneurship research by clarifying the causal pathways through which education and institutional environments generate welfare outcomes at the community level. The study offers important implications for policymakers and development practitioners, highlighting the need to align entrepreneurship education with institutional mechanisms that strengthen human capital to achieve sustainable and inclusive community welfare. JEL Clasification : L26; I25; J24