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Do Attitudes Toward Risk Taking Affect Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Second-generation Americans

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Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the impact of willingness to take risks on the likelihood of being an entrepreneur. We use a quarter century of data on second-generation Americans from Current Population Surveys in conjunction with country level measures of willingness to take risks from the Global Preference Survey. The average level of risk taking in the country of origin is found to have a positive and significant impact on the likelihood of being an entrepreneur. A one-standard deviation increase in risk taking increases the probability of being an entrepreneur by 15 percent. We also examine other preferences and cultural measures including trust, patience, and individualism. We find that these do not have an impact on entrepreneurship, while risk taking continues to be significant.

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  • Areendam Chanda & Bulent Unel, 2019. "Do Attitudes Toward Risk Taking Affect Entrepreneurship? Evidence from Second-generation Americans," Departmental Working Papers 2019-07, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2019-07
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    4. Chan Yang & Xiaogang He & Xiaoyan Wang & Jinjun Nie, 2022. "The Influence of Family Social Status on Farmer Entrepreneurship: Empirical Analysis Based on Thousand Villages Survey in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-27, July.
    5. Truc Thanh Tran & Nam Khanh Pham, 2024. "Risk Preferences and Entrepreneurial Decision-Making: Evidence from Experimental Methods in Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Tong Wang & Jiaxuan Liu & Hongyu Zhu & Yuansheng Jiang, 2024. "The Impact of Risk Aversion and Migrant Work Experience on Farmers’ Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, January.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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