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Smart and illicit: who becomes an entrepreneur and does it pay?

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  • Levine, Ross
  • Rubinstein, Yona

Abstract

We disaggregate the self-employed into incorporated and unincorporated to distinguish between “entrepreneurs” and other business owners. The incorporated self-employed have a distinct combination of cognitive, noncognitive, and family traits. Besides coming from higher-income families with better-educated mothers, the incorporated - as teenagers - scored higher on learning aptitude tests, had greater self-esteem, and engaged in more aggressive, illicit, risk-taking activities. The combination of “smarts” and “aggressive/illicit/risk-taking” tendencies as a youth accounts for both entry into entrepreneurship and the comparative earnings of entrepreneurs. In contrast to a large literature, we also find that entrepreneurs earn much more per hour than their salaried counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Levine, Ross & Rubinstein, Yona, 2013. "Smart and illicit: who becomes an entrepreneur and does it pay?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121781, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:121781
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; occupational choice; compensation; firm organization; corporate finance; cognitive and noncognitive traits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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