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The Superstar Inventors and Entrepreneurs: How Were They Educated?

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  • William J. Baumol
  • Melissa A. Schilling
  • Edward N. Wolff

Abstract

Observations, such as the many celebrated inventive entrepreneurs with minimal schooling, lead to the hypothesis that protracted and rigorous education can impede entrepreneurship. Systematic analysis of biographies of noted inventors and entrepreneurs appears not to support the hypothesis. We do find that with time, entrepreneurial and inventor education increases as technology grows more complex. However, we find at the same time that the educational attainment of inventors has grown more rapidly than that of entrepreneurs and the educational gap has tended to widen over time.

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  • William J. Baumol & Melissa A. Schilling & Edward N. Wolff, 2009. "The Superstar Inventors and Entrepreneurs: How Were They Educated?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 711-728, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:18:y:2009:i:3:p:711-728
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9134.2009.00227.x
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    1. Bruce A. Weinberg & David W. Galenson, 2019. "Creative Careers: The Life Cycles of Nobel Laureates in Economics," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 221-239, September.
    2. David W. Galenson & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2000. "Age and the Quality of Work: The Case of Modern American Painters," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 761-777, August.
    3. Naomi R. Lamoreaux & Kenneth L. Sokoloff, 2005. "The Decline of the Independent Inventor: A Schumpterian Story?," NBER Working Papers 11654, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Giovanni Dosi, 2000. "Sources, Procedures, and Microeconomic Effects of Innovation," Chapters, in: Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics, chapter 2, pages 63-114, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "Entrepreneurship and Innovation: New Entries, Survival, Growth," GREDEG Working Papers 2016-04, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    2. Obschonka, Martin & Fisch, Christian & Boyd, Ryan, 2017. "Using digital footprints in entrepreneurship research: A Twitter-based personality analysis of superstar entrepreneurs and managers," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 13-23.
    3. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "To be born is not enough: the key role of innovative start-ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 277-291, August.
    4. Gabriel, Cle-Anne, 2016. "What is challenging renewable energy entrepreneurs in developing countries?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 362-371.
    5. Claudio Loporcaro & Vito Albino & Angelo Natalicchio, 2023. "Regional Legacy Effects on Radically Innovative New Ventures’ Risks," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 32(2), pages 376-419, July.
    6. Lechman, Ewa & Dominiak, Piotr, 2016. "Entrepreneurship vulnerability to business cycle. A new methodology for identification pro-cyclical and counter-cyclical patterns of entrepreneurial activity," MPRA Paper 68793, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Marco Vivarelli, 2012. "Entrepreneurship and Post-Entry Performance: the Microeconomic Evidence," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1286, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    8. Gimmon, Eli & Levie, Jonathan, 2010. "Founder's human capital, external investment, and the survival of new high-technology ventures," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1214-1226, November.
    9. Clark, Kim & Ramachandran, Indu, 2019. "Subsidiary Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Opportunity: An Institutional Perspective," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 37-50.
    10. Abdul, Daud & Wenqi, Jiang & Sameeroddin, Mohd, 2023. "Prioritization of ecopreneurship barriers overcoming renewable energy technologies promotion: A comparative analysis of novel spherical fuzzy and Pythagorean fuzzy AHP approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    11. Thomas Hellmann & Scott Stern, 2009. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Economics and Strategy of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 615-621, September.
    12. Emilio Congregado & Antonio Golpe & Simon Parker, 2012. "The dynamics of entrepreneurship: hysteresis, business cycles and government policy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 1239-1261, December.
    13. Tetsushi Sonobe & Keijiro Otsuka, 2012. "The Role of Training in Fostering Cluster-Based MSE Development," GRIPS Discussion Papers 12-14, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    14. Gudmundsson, Sveinn Vidar & Lechner, Christian, 2013. "Cognitive biases, organization, and entrepreneurial firm survival," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 278-294.
    15. Colombelli, Alessandra & Krafft, Jackie & Vivarelli, Marco, 2016. "New Firms and Post-Entry Performance: The Role of Innovation," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201601, University of Turin.
    16. Michael Cichello & Douglas Lamdin, 2016. "The location of initial public offering headquarters: An empirical examination," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Sonobe, Tetsushi & Higuchi, Yuki & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2012. "Productivity growth and job creation in the development process of industrial clusters," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6280, The World Bank.
    18. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    19. Lin Wang & Murad Ali & Hyun Jeong Kim & Sareum Lee & Felipe Hernández Perlines, 2021. "Individual entrepreneurial orientation, value congruence, and individual outcomes: Does the institutional entrepreneurial environment matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2293-2312, July.
    20. Marta F. Arroyabe & Martin Schumann, 2022. "On the Estimation of True State Dependence in the Persistence of Innovation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(4), pages 850-893, August.
    21. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.
    22. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Entrepreneurship in Advanced and Developing Countries: A Microeconomic Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 6513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Isaac Hacamo & Kristoph Kleiner, 2022. "Forced Entrepreneurs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 49-83, February.
    24. Girum Abebe & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2012. "Management Practices, Self-Selection into Management Training Participation, and Training Effects in the Garment Industry in Ethiopia," GRIPS Discussion Papers 11-23, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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