Abstract
What determines the quality of entrepreneurs? The paper proposes a model
of the interaction between individual workers’ decision to become entrepreneur and
employers’ efforts to keep their best workers and ideas. The main prediction from the model is that larger firms produce entrepreneurs of higher quality than smaller firms. Using novel and unique Norwegian data, I find that previous employer size exertsa significant influence on entrepreneurial performance. For example, increasing previous employer size from the 25 percentile to the 75 percentile increases yearlyprofitability on assets by 6 percentage points.
of the interaction between individual workers’ decision to become entrepreneur and
employers’ efforts to keep their best workers and ideas. The main prediction from the model is that larger firms produce entrepreneurs of higher quality than smaller firms. Using novel and unique Norwegian data, I find that previous employer size exertsa significant influence on entrepreneurial performance. For example, increasing previous employer size from the 25 percentile to the 75 percentile increases yearlyprofitability on assets by 6 percentage points.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1010-1035 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Economic Journal |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue number | 539 |
| Early online date | 11 Jun 2009 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2009 |