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Living under the shadow: Adverse childhood experiences and entrepreneurial behaviors in Chinese adults

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  • Zhao, Chunkai
  • Li, Xing

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adult entrepreneurial behaviors. By adopting the data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we exploited the instrumental variable (IV) methods and found that the shadow of ACEs is significantly detrimental to entrepreneurship in adulthood, and this result proved robust across several methods. Mechanism tests indicated that the negative impacts of ACEs on entrepreneurship can be explained by losses in human capital, physical capital, and social capital, and developing a risk-averse personality. Further, heterogeneity results showed that the negative impact of ACEs from parents is greater, and the negative effect of ACEs on entrepreneurship is only valid for young and female and rural residents. This study enriches the discussion on ACEs and entrepreneurial behaviors in adulthood via better causal identification, and it provides important insights for other developing countries.

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  • Zhao, Chunkai & Li, Xing, 2022. "Living under the shadow: Adverse childhood experiences and entrepreneurial behaviors in Chinese adults," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 239-255.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:138:y:2022:i:c:p:239-255
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.09.016
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