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Self-Employment after Socialism: Intergenerational Links, Entrepreneurial Values, and Human Capital

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  • Michael Fritsch

    (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

  • Alina Rusakova

    (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

Abstract

Drawing on representative household data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examine the role of an early precursor of entrepreneurial development - parental role models - for the individual decision to become self-employed in the post-unified Germany. The findings suggest that the socialist regime significantly damaged this mechanism of an intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial attitudes among East Germans with a tertiary degree that have experienced a particularly strong ideological indoctrination. However, we find a significant and positive relationship between the presence of a parental role model and the decision to become self-employed for less-educated people. For West Germans the positive relationship holds irrespective of the level of education.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Fritsch & Alina Rusakova, 2012. "Self-Employment after Socialism: Intergenerational Links, Entrepreneurial Values, and Human Capital," Jena Economics Research Papers 2012-022, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2012-022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Fritsch & Alexander S. Kritikos & Alina Rusakova, 2012. "Who Starts a Business and Who Is Self-Employed in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1184, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Michael Wyrwich, 2012. "Regional Entrepreneurial Heritage in a Socialist and a Postsocialist Economy," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 88(4), pages 423-445, October.
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    8. Marco Caliendo & Frank Fossen & Alexander Kritikos, 2009. "Risk attitudes of nascent entrepreneurs–new evidence from an experimentally validated survey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 153-167, February.
    9. Michael C. Burda & Jennifer Hunt, 2001. "From Reunification to Economic Integration: Productivity and the Labor Market in Eastern Germany," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 32(2), pages 1-92.
    10. Stefan Bauernschuster & Oliver Falck & Robert Gold & Stephan Heblich, 2009. "The Shadows of the Past - How Implicit Institutions Influence Entrepreneurship," Jena Economics Research Papers 2009-044, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    11. Alexander S. Kritikos, 2011. "Gründungszuschuss: ein erfolgreiches Instrument steht zur Disposition," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 78(45), pages 16-21.
    12. Robert F. Scherer & Janet S. Adams & Susan S. Carley & Frank A. Wiebe, 1989. "Role Model Performance Effects on Development of Entrepreneurial Career Preference," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 13(3), pages 53-72, April.
    13. Laspita, Stavroula & Breugst, Nicola & Heblich, Stephan & Patzelt, Holger, 2012. "Intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 414-435.
    14. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The imprint of socialism on entrepreneurship
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2012-07-30 19:23:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch, 2018. "Entrepreneurial career paths: occupational context and the propensity to become self-employed," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 129-152, June.
    2. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2023. "Entrepreneurship in the Long-Run: Empirical Evidence and Historical Mechanisms," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 19(1), pages 1-125, January.
    3. Sorgner, Alina & Wyrwich, Michael, 2022. "Calling Baumol: What telephones can tell us about the allocation of entrepreneurial talent in the face of radical institutional changes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    4. Michael Wyrwich, 2013. "In the name of my parents: Entrepreneurship and the intergenerational transmission of values," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-031, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Michael Fritsch & Elisabeth Bublitz & Alina Sorgner & Michael Wyrwich, 2014. "How much of a socialist legacy? The re-emergence of entrepreneurship in the East German transformation to a market economy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 427-446, August.
    6. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch, 2013. "Occupational Choice and Self-Employment - Are They Related?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-001, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    7. Necker, Sarah & Voskort, Andrea, 2014. "Politics and parents — Intergenerational transmission of values after a regime shift," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 177-194.
    8. Michael Wyrwich, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and the intergenerational transmission of values," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 191-213, June.
    9. Sorgner, Alina & Fritsch, Michael, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Career Paths: Occupational Environments and the Propensity to Become Self-Employed," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 234990, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; parental role models; human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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