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Born Entrepreneur? Adolescents' Personality Characteristics and Self-Employment in Adulthood

Author

Listed:
  • Viinikainen, Jutta

    (Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics)

  • Heineck, Guido

    (University of Bamberg)

  • Böckerman, Petri

    (University of Jyväskylä)

  • Hintsanen, Mirka

    (University of Oulu)

  • Raitakari, Olli

    (University of Turku)

  • Pehkonen, Jaakko

    (Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics)

Abstract

Is there an entrepreneurial personality and does it appear early in life? We provide a new answer on this question by using the so-called Type A behavior traits (Aggression, Leadership, Responsibility, and Eagerness-Energy), measured in childhood and adolescence, and examining their relationship to self-employment propensity in adulthood. Using data from the Young Finns Study linked to the Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data and the Longitudinal Population Census of Statistics, our results show that the early-life Leadership-dimension is significantly associated with a higher likelihood 1) of becoming self-employed later in life and 2) of being more successful as an entrepreneur, as approximated by sales. Our results also reinforce the prior evidence on the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Viinikainen, Jutta & Heineck, Guido & Böckerman, Petri & Hintsanen, Mirka & Raitakari, Olli & Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2016. "Born Entrepreneur? Adolescents' Personality Characteristics and Self-Employment in Adulthood," IZA Discussion Papers 9805, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9805
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Herold, Florian & Kuzmics, Christoph, 2020. "The evolution of taking roles," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 38-63.
    3. Jorge, Velilla, 2017. "Feminization of entrepreneurship in developing countries? Evidence from GEM data," MPRA Paper 79997, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Lojak, Benjamin, 2016. "Sentiment-driven investment, non-linear corporate debt dynamics and co-existing business cycle regimes," BERG Working Paper Series 112, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    5. Martin Carolin & Westerhoff Frank, 2019. "Regulating Speculative Housing Markets via Public Housing Construction Programs: Insights from a Heterogeneous Agent Model," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(4), pages 627-660, August.
    6. Molina, Jose Alberto & Ortega, Raquel & Velilla, Jorge, 2017. "Older entrepreneurs-by-necessity using fuzzy set methods: differences between developed and developing countries," MPRA Paper 76982, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Velilla, Jorge & Molina, José Alberto & Ortega, Raquel, 2018. "Why older workers become entrepreneurs? International evidence using fuzzy set methods," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 88-95.
    8. March, Christoph & Sahm, Marco, 2018. "Contests as selection mechanisms: The impact of risk aversion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 114-131.
    9. Hommes, Cars & Lustenhouwer, Joep & Mavromatis, Kostas, 2018. "Fiscal consolidations and heterogeneous expectations," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 173-205.
    10. March, Christoph & Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Asymmetric discouragement in asymmetric contests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 23-27.
    11. Roberto Dieci & Noemi Schmitt & Frank Westerhoff, 2018. "Steady states, stability and bifurcations in multi-asset market models," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 41(2), pages 357-378, November.
    12. Hommes, Cars & Lustenhouwer, Joep, 2019. "Managing unanchored, heterogeneous expectations and liquidity traps," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 1-16.
    13. Lustenhouwer, Joep & Mavromatis, Kostas, 2017. "Fiscal consolidations and finite planning horizons," BERG Working Paper Series 130, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    14. González-Díaz, Julio & Herold, Florian & Domínguez, Diego, 2016. "Strategic sequential voting," BERG Working Paper Series 113, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    15. Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Are sequential round-robin tournaments discriminatory?," BERG Working Paper Series 121, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    16. Sahm, Marco, 2017. "Risk aversion and prudence in contests," BERG Working Paper Series 120, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Type A behavior; personality; self-employment; entrepreneurship; intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurship;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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