IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v44y2015i2p283-298.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are entrepreneurship and cognitive skills related? Some international evidence

Author

Listed:
  • R. Hafer
  • Garett Jones

Abstract

Do national differences in cognitive skills (CS) predict a nation’s likelihood of generating high-quality entrepreneurs who create and expand high-value businesses? We answer this question by estimating cross-country regressions that use the Acs and Szerb Global Entrepreneurship Development Index (GEDI) and a measure of national CS. After including conventional controls we find for a sample of 60 countries that our measure of CS robustly predicts the GEDI (unconditional correlation = 0.65, standardized beta = 0.42), an index that gives weight to both entrepreneurial attitudes within a nation and the institutional and economic prerequisites for creating high-value, high-growth firms. We find that this result also holds for an alternative measure of entrepreneurship. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • R. Hafer & Garett Jones, 2015. "Are entrepreneurship and cognitive skills related? Some international evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 283-298, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:2:p:283-298
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-014-9596-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11187-014-9596-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-014-9596-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David B. Audretsch & Isabel Grilo & A. Roy Thurik (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3856.
    2. Boettke, Peter J. & Coyne, Christopher J., 2009. "Context Matters: Institutions and Entrepreneurship," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 5(3), pages 135-209, March.
    3. Hansen, Karsten T. & Heckman, James J. & Mullen, K.J.Kathleen J., 2004. "The effect of schooling and ability on achievement test scores," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 39-98.
    4. Jac C. Heckelman, 2005. "Proxies for Economic Freedom: A Critique of the Hanson Critique," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(2), pages 492-501, October.
    5. Edward P. Lazear, 2004. "Balanced Skills and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 208-211, May.
    6. Mirjam Praag & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Justin van der Sluis, 2013. "The higher returns to formal education for entrepreneurs versus employees," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 375-396, February.
    7. Nicola Gennaioli & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2013. "Human Capital and Regional Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 128(1), pages 105-164.
    8. Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Entrepreneurship: a weak link in the welfare state?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 437-467, June.
    9. Zoltán J. Ács & Erkko Autio & László Szerb, 2015. "National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 28, pages 523-541, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Garett Jones & W. Joel Schneider, 2010. "Iq In The Production Function: Evidence From Immigrant Earnings," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(3), pages 743-755, July.
    11. Potrafke, Niklas, 2012. "Intelligence and corruption," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 109-112.
    12. Zoltán J. Ács & Sameeksha Desai & Leora F. Klapper, 2015. "What does ‘‘entrepreneurship’’ data really show?," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 24, pages 464-480, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. James J. Heckman, 2008. "Schools, Skills, And Synapses," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(3), pages 289-324, July.
    14. Zoltan Acs, 2006. "How Is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 97-107, March.
    15. Joop Hartog & Mirjam Van Praag & Justin Van Der Sluis, 2010. "If You Are So Smart, Why Aren't You an Entrepreneur? Returns to Cognitive and Social Ability: Entrepreneurs Versus Employees," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 947-989, December.
    16. Lewis, William W., 2004. "The Power of Productivity," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226476766.
    17. Christian Bjørnskov & Nicolai Foss, 2010. "Economic Freedom and Entrepreneurial Activity: Some Cross-Country Evidence," Springer Books, in: Andreas Freytag & Roy Thurik (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Culture, chapter 0, pages 201-225, Springer.
    18. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    19. Thomas A. Garrett & Russell M. Rhine, 2011. "Economic freedom and employment growth in U.S. states," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 93(Jan), pages 1-18.
    20. Kristina Nyström, 2008. "The institutions of economic freedom and entrepreneurship: evidence from panel data," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 269-282, September.
    21. André Stel & Martin Carree & Roy Thurik, 2005. "The Effect of Entrepreneurial Activity on National Economic Growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 311-321, February.
    22. Jones, Garett, 2011. "National IQ and National Productivity: The Hive Mind Across Asia," Asian Development Review, Asian Development Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 51-71.
    23. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    24. Paul Reynolds & Niels Bosma & Erkko Autio & Steve Hunt & Natalie De Bono & Isabel Servais & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Nancy Chin, 2005. "Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Data Collection Design and Implementation 1998–2003," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 205-231, February.
    25. Israel M. Kirzner, 1997. "Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 60-85, March.
    26. Acs,Zoltan J. & Desai,Sameeksha Vishvanath & Klapper,Leora & Acs,Zoltan J. & Desai,Sameeksha Vishvanath & Klapper, Leora F, 2008. "What does"entrepreneurship"data really show ? a comparison of the global entrepreneurship monitor and World Bank group datasets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4667, The World Bank.
    27. Acs,Zoltan J. & Armington,Catherine, 2011. "Entrepreneurship, Geography, and American Economic Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107402539.
    28. Parker, Simon C. & van Praag, C. Mirjam, 2006. "Schooling, Capital Constraints, and Entrepreneurial Performance: The Endogenous Triangle," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 24, pages 416-431, October.
    29. Garett Jones & W. Schneider, 2006. "Intelligence, Human Capital, and Economic Growth: A Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates (BACE) Approach," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 71-93, March.
    30. Weede, Erich & Kampf, Sebastian, 2002. "The Impact of Intelligence and Institutional Improvements on Economic Growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 361-380.
    31. Ram, Rati, 2007. "IQ and economic growth: Further augmentation of Mankiw-Romer-Weil model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 7-11, January.
    32. Audretsch, David B. & Keilbach, Max C. & Lehmann, Erik E., 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195183511.
    33. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1997. "I Just Ran Two Million Regressions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 178-183, May.
    34. Dan Andrews & Andrew Leigh, 2009. "More inequality, less social mobility," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(15), pages 1489-1492.
    35. Heckelman, Jac C & Stroup, Michael D, 2000. "Which Economic Freedoms Contribute to Growth?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 527-544.
    36. Benjamin Powell & Cortney Stephen Rodet, 2012. "Praise and Profits: Cultural and Institutional Determinants of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 27(Spring 20), pages 19-42.
    37. Zoltan Acs & László Szerb & Erkko Autio, 2017. "Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index 2016," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, number 978-3-319-63844-7, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Che Razak, Razli & Salleh, Fauzilah & Labastida Tovar, María Elena, 2017. "The higher intelligence of the ‘creative minority’ provides the infrastructure for entrepreneurial innovation," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 93-106.
    2. Donald F. Kuratko & Greg Fisher & David B. Audretsch, 2021. "Unraveling the entrepreneurial mindset," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1681-1691, December.
    3. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor, 2016. "Does Trust Matter for Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Cross-Section of Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "To be born is not enough: the key role of innovative start-ups," Post-Print halshs-01248721, HAL.
    5. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "To be born is not enough: the key role of innovative start-ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 277-291, August.
    6. Antonios Garas & Sophie Guthmuller & Athanasios Lapatinas, 2021. "The development of nations conditions the disease space," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(1), pages 1-35, January.
    7. Yaroslav Kuzminov & Pavel Sorokin & Isak Froumin, 2019. "Generic and Specific Skills as Components of Human Capital: New Challenges for Education Theory and Practice," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 19-41.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2018. "“This one is 400 Libyan dinars, this one is 500†: Insights from Cognitive Human Capital and Slave Trade," AFEA Working Papers 18/014, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA).
    9. Aparicio, Sebastian & Audretsch, David & Urbano, David, 2021. "Why is export-oriented entrepreneurship more prevalent in some countries than others? Contextual antecedents and economic consequences," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    10. David Urbano & Sebastian Aparicio & David Audretsch, 2019. "Twenty-five years of research on institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: what has been learned?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 21-49, June.
    11. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "Entrepreneurship and Innovation: New Entries, Survival, Growth," GREDEG Working Papers 2016-04, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    12. Dewen Liu & Shenghao Han & Chunyang Zhou, 2022. "The Influence of Physical Exercise Frequency and Intensity on Individual Entrepreneurial Behavior: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-22, September.
    13. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2018. "“This One Is 400 Libyan Dinars, This One Is 500”: Insights from Cognitive Human Capital and Slave Trade," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 291-306, April.
    14. Colombelli, Alessandra & Krafft, Jackie & Vivarelli, Marco, 2016. "New Firms and Post-Entry Performance: The Role of Innovation," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201602, University of Turin.
    15. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Che Razak, Razli & Salleh, Fauzilah & Labastida Tovar, María Elena, 2017. "Intelligence and the Ease of Doing Business: Does Intellectual Class Facilitate Leadership and Entrepreneurship?," MPRA Paper 77503, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Cheng, Zhiming & Tani, Massimiliano & Wang, Haining, 2021. "Energy poverty and entrepreneurship," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    17. Aparicio, Sebastian & Audretsch, David & Noguera, Maria & Urbano, David, 2022. "Can female entrepreneurs boost social mobility in developing countries? An institutional analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Sangaralingam Ramesh, 2020. "Entrepreneurship in China and India," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(1), pages 321-355, March.
    19. Athanasios Lapatinas & Anastasia Litina, 2019. "Intelligence and economic sophistication," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1731-1750, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor, 2016. "Does Trust Matter for Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Cross-Section of Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 455-488, June.
    3. Boudreaux, Christopher & Caudill, Steven, 2019. "Entrepreneurship, Institutions, and Economic Growth: Does the Level of Development Matter?," MPRA Paper 94244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    5. Jones, Garett, 2012. "Cognitive skill and technology diffusion: An empirical test," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 444-460.
    6. Bradley K. Hobbs & Mushfiq Swaleheen, 2014. "Entrepreneurial starts: nature or nurture?," Chapters, in: Robert F. Salvino Jr. & Michael T. Tasto & Gregory M. Randolph (ed.), Entrepreneurial Action, Public Policy, and Economic Outcomes, chapter 5, pages 83-99, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Isaac Kalonda-Kanyama & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2012. "Quality of Institutions: Does Intelligence Matter?," Working Papers 308, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    8. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Che Razak, Razli & Salleh, Fauzilah & Labastida Tovar, María Elena, 2017. "Intelligence and the Ease of Doing Business: Does Intellectual Class Facilitate Leadership and Entrepreneurship?," MPRA Paper 77503, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jonathan Levie & Erkko Autio, 2008. "A theoretical grounding and test of the GEM model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 235-263, October.
    10. Turan Yay & Gülsün G. Yay & Tolga Aksoy, 2018. "Impact of institutions on entrepreneurship: a panel data analysis," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(1), pages 131-160, April.
    11. Athanasios Lapatinas & Anastasia Litina, 2019. "Intelligence and economic sophistication," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1731-1750, November.
    12. Jose Maria Millan & Emilio Congregado & Concepcion Roman & Mirjam van Praag & Andre van Stel, 2011. "The Value of an Educated Population for an Individual's Entrepreneurship Success," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-066/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 06 May 2014.
    13. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Salleh, Fauzilah & Burhan, Nik Mohd Ghazi, 2015. "National Intelligence and Private Health Expenditure: Do High IQ Societies Spend More on Health Insurance?," MPRA Paper 77328, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Urbano, David & Aparicio, Sebastian, 2016. "Entrepreneurship capital types and economic growth: International evidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 34-44.
    15. 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.
    16. Rosendahl Huber, Laura & Sloof, Randolph & van Praag, Mirjam C., 2014. "Jacks-of-All-Trades? The Effect of Balanced Skills on Team Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 8237, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Entrepreneurship in Advanced and Developing Countries: A Microeconomic Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 6513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Rachel L. Coyne, 2014. "Economic freedom, entrepreneurship and growth," Chapters, in: Robert F. Salvino Jr. & Michael T. Tasto & Gregory M. Randolph (ed.), Entrepreneurial Action, Public Policy, and Economic Outcomes, chapter 3, pages 34-51, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Burhan, Nik Ahmad Sufian & Sidek, Abdul Halim & Kurniawan, Yohan & Mohamad, Mohd Rosli, 2014. "Has Globalization Triggered Collective Impact of National Intelligence on Economic Growth?," MPRA Paper 77316, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Luis Medrano-Adán & Vicente Salas-Fumás & J. Sanchez-Asin, 2015. "Heterogeneous entrepreneurs from occupational choices in economies with minimum wages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 597-619, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Cognitive skills; Economic freedom; A1; F2; K00; M2; L26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • M2 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:2:p:283-298. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.