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Are entrepreneurs more upwardly mobile?

Author

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  • Matthew J. Lindquist
  • Theodor Vladasel

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is often hailed as a path to upward intergenerational mobility, but few studies have explicitly tested this belief. We study intergenerational income rank mobility among entrepreneurs and employees in Sweden using high-quality measures of lifetime income for 215,000 father-son pairs. Incorporated entrepreneurs are more upwardly mobile than wage earners; this result is driven by selection and not by the causal impact of entrepreneurship on upward intergenerational mobility. By contrast, unincorporated entrepreneurs are more downwardly mobile, a result explained by selection, income underreporting, and lower returns to skills and education.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Lindquist & Theodor Vladasel, 2022. "Are entrepreneurs more upwardly mobile?," Economics Working Papers 1841, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1841
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    Cited by:

    1. Waldron, Theodore L. & McMullen, Jeffery S. & Newbert, Scott L. & Payne, G. Tyge & York, Jeffrey G., 2025. "Bold, broad, rigorous, and…relevant? Designing entrepreneurship research for translation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4).
    2. Jarkko Harju & Toni Juuti & Tuomas Matikka, 2023. "Stairway to Heaven? Selection into Entrepreneurship, Income Mobility and Firm Performance," Working Papers 17, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    3. Brändle, Leif & Rönnert, Anna-Lena & Moergen, Kristie J.N. & Zhao, Eric Yanfei, 2025. "Social class origin and entrepreneurship: An integrative review and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(4).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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