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Dinner Table Human Capital and Entrepreneurship

Author

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  • Hvide, Hans K.

    (University of Bergen)

  • Oyer, Paul

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

We document three new facts about entrepreneurship. First, a majority of male entrepreneurs start a firm in the same or a closely related industry as their fathers' industry of employment. Second, this tendency is correlated with intelligence: higher-IQ entrepreneurs are less likely to follow their fathers. Third, an entrepreneur that starts a firm in the same 5-digit industry as where his father was employed tends to outperform entrepreneurs in the same industry whose fathers did not work in that industry. We consider various explanations for these facts and conclude that "dinner table human capital", where children obtain industry knowledge through their parents, is an important factor behind what type of firm is started and how well it performs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hvide, Hans K. & Oyer, Paul, 2017. "Dinner Table Human Capital and Entrepreneurship," Research Papers repec:ecl:stabus:3658, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:repec:ecl:stabus:3658
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    Cited by:

    1. Altmejd, Adam, 2023. "Inheritance of fields of study," Working Paper Series 2023:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    2. Vladasel, Theodor & Lindquist, Matthew J. & Sol, Joeri & van Praag, Mirjam, 2021. "On the origins of entrepreneurship: Evidence from sibling correlations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    3. Hvide, Hans K. & Meling, Tom G., 2019. "Do Temporary Demand Shocks have Long-Term Effects for Startups?," CEPR Discussion Papers 14131, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Bernstein, Shai & Colonnelli, Emanuele & Malacrino, Davide & McQuade, Tim, 2022. "Who creates new firms when local opportunities arise?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 107-130.
    5. Yiqun Chen & Petra Persson & Maria Polyakova, 2019. "The Roots of Health Inequality and The Value of Intra-Family Expertise," NBER Working Papers 25618, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Toews, Gerhard & Vezina, Pierre-Louis, 2020. "Enemies of the people," SocArXiv gnypr, Center for Open Science.
    7. Tania Babina & Wenting Ma & Christian Moser & Paige P. Ouimet & Rebecca Zarutskie, 2019. "Pay, Employment, and Dynamics of Young Firms," Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute Working Papers 21, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    8. Soleimanof, Sohrab & Morris, Michael H. & Jang, Yongseok, 2021. "Following the footsteps that inspire: Parental passion, family communication, and children’s entrepreneurial attitudes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 450-461.
    9. Naijia Guo & Charles Ka Yui Leung, 2021. "Do elite colleges matter? The impact on entrepreneurship decisions and career dynamics," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(4), pages 1347-1397, November.
    10. Elizabeth Mishkin, 2021. "Gender and Sibling Dynamics in the Intergenerational Transmission of Entrepreneurship," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 6116-6135, October.
    11. Sascha O Becker & Hans K Hvide, 2022. "Entrepreneur Death and Startup Performance [The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(1), pages 163-185.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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