Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/70192 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
Jena Economic Research Papers No. 2012,063
Publisher: 
Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Abstract: 
There is a debate in the literature backed by ambiguous empirical evidence whether personality is useful at predicting entrepreneurship behavior. However, little is known about the role of the context in the relationship between personality and entrepreneurship. This paper draws on the well-established psychological theory of vocational behavior, which emphasizes the crucial role of personality for peoples' vocational choices, in order to shed more light on the interplay between personality, occupational environment, and the decision to become self-employed. Empirical findings suggest that personality is associated with both vocational and entrepreneurial choices. An entrepreneurial personality profile is positively related to the choice of Holland's enterprising and artistic occupations, which contributes to above-average self-employment rates in these occupations. Personality also seems to play an important role in entrepreneurial choice, however, in a way which varies substantially across occupations.
Subjects: 
entrepreneurship
vocational choice
Big Five
occupational environment
JEL: 
L26
J24
J44
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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