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Entrepreneurship: can the Jack-of-all-trades attitude be acquired?

Author

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  • Silva, Olmo

Abstract

Entrepreneurs are believed to be the ultimate engine of modern economic systems. Yet, the study of entrepreneurship suffers from the lack of consensus on the most crucial question: what makes an entrepreneur? A recent theory developed by Edward Lazear suggests that individuals mastering a balanced set of talents across different fields, i.e. the Jacks-of-All-Trades (JATs), have a high probability of becoming entrepreneurs. In this paper, I investigate whether the JAT Attitude is just an innate ability or a skill that can be trained to enhance individuals’ chances of becoming entrepreneurs. Using panel techniques, I show that changes in the spread of knowledge across different fields do not increase the probability of becoming an entrepreneur. This suggests that, if the JAT Attitude matters for entrepreneurship, it is an innate and time-invariant individual attribute, rather than a skill that can be acquired.

Suggested Citation

  • Silva, Olmo, 2004. "Entrepreneurship: can the Jack-of-all-trades attitude be acquired?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19923, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:19923
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/19923/
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    Cited by:

    1. Milo Bianchi & Magnus Henrekson, 2005. "Is Neoclassical Economics still Entrepreneurless?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 353-377, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Occupational Choice; Skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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