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The Impact of Risk Attitudes on Entrepreneurial Survival

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Abstract

Risk attitudes have an impact on not only the decision to become an entrepreneur but also on the survival and failure rates of entrepreneurs. Whereas recent research underpins the theoretical proposition of a positive correlation between risk attitudes and the decision to become an entrepreneur, the effects on survival are not as straightforward. Psychological research posits an inverse U-shaped relationship between risk attitudes and entrepreneurial survival. On the basis of recent waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we examine the extent to which risk attitudes influence survival rates of entrepreneurs. The empirical results confirm that persons whose risk attitudes are in the medium range survive significantly longer as entrepreneurs than do persons with particularly low or high risks.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Hanseatic University, Germany, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 012.

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Length: 23 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2008
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Handle: RePEc:phu:wpaper:012

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Web page: http://www.hanseuni.com

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Cited by:
  1. Maite Bl�zquez & Santiago Budría, 2012. "Overeducation dynamics and personality," Education Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 260-283, March.
  2. Laura Rosendahl Huber & Randolph Sloof & Mirjam van Praag, 2012. "The Effect of Early Entrepreneurship Education: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-041/3, Tinbergen Institute.
  3. Fossen, Frank M. & Büttner, Tobias J. M., 2012. "The returns to education for opportunity entrepreneurs, necessity entrepreneurs, and paid employees," Discussion Papers 2012/19, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
  4. Fossen, Frank M., 2011. "Personal Bankruptcy Law, Wealth and Entrepreneurship: Theory and Evidence from the Introduction of a "Fresh Start"," IZA Discussion Papers 5459, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Holm, Håkan J. & Opper, Sonja & Nee, Victor, 2013. "Entrepeneurs under Uncertainty: an Economic Experiment in China," Knut Wicksell Working Paper Series 2013/1, Knut Wicksell Centre for Financial Studies, Lund University.
  6. Fossen, Frank M., 2012. "Risk attitudes and private business equity," Discussion Papers 2012/11, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
  7. Mathilde Almlund & Angela Lee Duckworth & James J. Heckman & Tim D. Kautz, 2011. "Personality Psychology and Economics," NBER Working Papers 16822, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Cho, In Soo & Orazem, Peter, 2011. "Risk Aversion or Risk Management?: How Measures of Risk Aversion Affect Firm Entry and Firm Survival," Staff General Research Papers 34652, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
  9. Wilbert van der Klaauw & Wandi Bruine de Bruin & Giorgio Topa & Basit Zafar & Olivier Armantier, 2012. "Inflation Expectations and Behavior: Do Survey Respondents Act on their Beliefs?," 2012 Meeting Papers 121, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  10. Caliendo, Marco & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2011. "Searching for the Entrepreneurial Personality: New Evidence and Avenues for Further Research," IZA Discussion Papers 5790, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  11. Marco Vivarelli, 2012. "Entrepreneurship and Post-Entry Performance: the Microeconomic Evidence," DISES - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1286, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
  12. Holm, Håkan J. & Opper, Sonja & Nee, Victor, 2012. "Entrepreneurs under Uncertainty: An Economic Experiment," Working Papers 2012:4, Lund University, Department of Economics.
  13. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.

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