IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp2071.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Selection-Based Theory of the Transition from Employment to Entrepreneurship: The Role of Employer Size

Author

Listed:
  • Parker, Simon C.

    (Western University, Canada)

Abstract

A simple occupational choice model is used to predict that entrepreneurs who found new firms are more likely to work for small than for large firms prior to start-up. The mechanism underlying the result is heterogeneous risk aversion. The model also predicts a positive association between new firm formation and previous self-employment experience. These predictions accord with previous empirical findings, but notably self-selection rather than productivity effects can explain them.

Suggested Citation

  • Parker, Simon C., 2006. "A Selection-Based Theory of the Transition from Employment to Entrepreneurship: The Role of Employer Size," IZA Discussion Papers 2071, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2071
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp2071.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wagner, Joachim, 2004. "Nascent Entrepreneurs," IZA Discussion Papers 1293, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. C. Mirjam Van Praag & Hans Van Ophem, 1995. "Determinants of Willingness and Opportunity to Start as an Entrepreneur," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 513-540, November.
    3. Cramer, J. S. & Hartog, J. & Jonker, N. & Van Praag, C. M., 2002. "Low risk aversion encourages the choice for entrepreneurship: an empirical test of a truism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 29-36, May.
    4. Puri, Manju & Robinson, David T., 2007. "Optimism and economic choice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 71-99, October.
    5. Parker,Simon C., 2006. "The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521030632, November.
    6. repec:bla:kyklos:v:48:y:1995:i:4:p:513-40 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Ghatak, Maitreesh, 1999. "Group lending, local information and peer selection," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 27-50, October.
    8. Maitreesh Ghatak & Massimo Morelli & Tomas Sjöström, 2001. "Occupational Choice and Dynamic Incentives," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(4), pages 781-810.
    9. Ekelund, Jesper & Johansson, Edvard & Jarvelin, Marjo-Riitta & Lichtermann, Dirk, 2005. "Self-employment and risk aversion--evidence from psychological test data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 649-659, October.
    10. Boden, Richard Jr., 1996. "Gender and self-employment selection: An empirical assessment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 671-682.
    11. Bester, Helmut, 1985. "Screening vs. Rationing in Credit Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 850-855, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Serguey Braguinsky & Steven Klepper & Atsushi Ohyama, 2012. "High-Tech Entrepreneurship," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(4), pages 869-900.
    2. Johannes Dick & Katrin Hussinger & Boris Blumberg & John Hagedoorn, 2013. "Is success hereditary? Evidence on the performance of spawned ventures," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 911-931, May.
    3. Christopher Goetz & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer & Kristin Sandusky, 2016. "The Promise and Potential of Linked Employer-Employee Data for Entrepreneurship Research," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 433-462, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Simon Parker, 2007. "Which firms do the entrepreneurs come from?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 10(10), pages 1-9.
    5. Johanna Gast & Arndt Werner & Sascha Kraus, 2017. "Antecedents of the small firm effect: the role of knowledge spillover and blocked mobility for employee entrepreneurial intentions," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 277-297, March.
    6. Pindado, Emilio & Sánchez, Mercedes & Verstegen, Jos A.A.M. & Lans, Thomas, 2018. "Searching for the entrepreneurs among new entrants in European Agriculture: the role of human and social capital," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 19-30.
    7. Daniel W. Elfenbein & Barton H. Hamilton & Todd R. Zenger, 2010. "The Small Firm Effect and the Entrepreneurial Spawning of Scientists and Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(4), pages 659-681, April.
    8. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:10:y:2007:i:10:p:1-9 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simon Parker, 2007. "Which firms do the entrepreneurs come from?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 10(10), pages 1-9.
    2. Gustavo A. Caballero, 2017. "Responsibility or autonomy: children and the probability of self-employment in the USA," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 493-512, August.
    3. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:10:y:2007:i:10:p:1-9 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2008. "Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(6), pages 1113-1145, December.
    5. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    6. Catia Batista & Janis Umblijs, 2014. "Migration, risk attitudes, and entrepreneurship: evidence from a representative immigrant survey," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, December.
    7. P. Mueller, 2006. "Entrepreneurship in the Region: Breeding Ground for Nascent Entrepreneurs?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 41-58, August.
    8. Parker, Simon C. & van Praag, Mirjam C., 2006. "The Entrepreneur's Mode of Entry: Business Takeover or New Venture Start," IZA Discussion Papers 2382, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Cai, Zhengyu & Winters, John V., 2017. "Self-employment differentials among foreign-born STEM and non-STEM workers," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 371-384.
    10. C. Praag & Peter Versloot, 2007. "What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 351-382, December.
    11. Joachim Wagner, 2007. "What a Difference a Y makes-Female and Male Nascent Entrepreneurs in Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-21, January.
    12. Skriabikova, Olga J. & Dohmen, Thomas & Kriechel, Ben, 2014. "New evidence on the relationship between risk attitudes and self-employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 176-184.
    13. Mueller, Pamela, 2005. "Entrepreneurship in the region: Breeding ground for nascent enterpreneurs?," Freiberg Working Papers 2005/05, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    14. Pernilla Andersson Joona, 2018. "How does motherhood affect self-employment performance?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 29-54, January.
    15. Werner, Arndt & Moog, Petra, 2009. "Why do Employees Leave Their Jobs for Self-Employment? – The Impact of Entrepreneurial Working Conditions in Small Firms," MPRA Paper 18826, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & Tina Xu, 2017. "Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature," NBER Working Papers 24097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Rachel G. Childers, 2011. "Being One'S Own Boss: How Does Risk Fit In?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 56(1), pages 48-58, May.
    18. Erik Stam & Roy Thurik & Peter van der Zwan, 2010. "Entrepreneurial exit in real and imagined markets," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(4), pages 1109-1139, August.
    19. Mikaela Backman & Charlie Karlsson, 2016. "Determinants of self-employment among commuters and non-commuters," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(4), pages 755-774, November.
    20. Raziiakhan Abdieva & Burulcha Sulaimanova & Kamalbek Karymshakov, 2019. "Gender differences, risk attitude and entrepreneurship in Kyrgyzstan," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 8(1), pages 17-30.
    21. Bonin, Holger & Dohmen, Thomas & Falk, Armin & Huffman, David & Sunde, Uwe, 2007. "Cross-sectional earnings risk and occupational sorting: The role of risk attitudes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 926-937, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; occupational choice; firm size;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2071. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.