Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/21411 
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 760
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The theory proposed below is that entrepreneurs are jacks-of-all-trades who may not excel in any one skill, but are competent in many. A coherent model of the choice to become an entrepreneur is presented. The primary implication is that individuals with balanced skills are more likely than others to become entrepreneurs. The model provides implications for the proportion of entrepreneurs by occupation, by income and yields a number of predictions for the distribution of income by entrepreneurial status. Using a data set of Stanford alumni, the predictions are tested and found to hold. In particular, by far the most important determinant of entrepreneurship is having background in a large number of different roles. Further, income distribution predictions, e.g., that there are a disproportionate number of entrepreneurs in the upper tail of the distribution, are borne out.
Subjects: 
entrepreneurship
occupation choice
diversity
jack-of-all-trades
JEL: 
J4
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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