Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/18416 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 684
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper empirically analyzes whether the character-based approach, which is based on the personality structure and the human capital of business founders, allows prediction of entrepreneurial success. A unique data set is used consisting of 414 previously unemployed persons whose personal characteristics were screened by different methods, namely a one-day assessment center (AC) and a standardized questionnaire, before they launched their business. Results are partly unexpected: first, there is almost no correlation between the AC data and the questionnaire. Second, the predictive power of the AC data is slightly better than that of the questionnaire, but lower than expected in theory. Interestingly, for those subgroups where the AC data have low predictive power, the questionnaire does better. Third, when success is measured in terms of employees hired, the character-based approach is a poor predictor.
Subjects: 
Entrepreneurship
Psychological Assessment
Character-Based Approach
Success Prediction
JEL: 
J23
C13
M13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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