Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/56813 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
Jena Economic Research Papers No. 2010,075
Publisher: 
Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
Abstract: 
We investigate the effect of broad personality traits' - the Big Five - on an individua's decision to become self-employed. In particular, we test an overall indicator of the entrepreneurial personality. Since we find that the level of self-employment varies considerably across professions, we also perform the analysis for different types of professions, namely, those classified as being in the 'creative class' as compared to the noncreative class. The analysis is based on micro data for individuals of the German Socio Economic Panel (SOEP). We find a significant association between personality traits and the propensity be become self-employed. However, the strength of this link is fairly weak and differs across professions, indicating an important effect of an individual's profession on his or her decision to run an own business.
Subjects: 
entrepreneurship
self-employment
personality traits
the Big Five
professions
JEL: 
L26
Z1
D03
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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