Entrepreneurship and Financial Incentives of Return, Risk, and Skew

Peter Berkhout, Joop Hartog, Mirjam Van Praag

    Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

    Abstract

    We focus on the role of the opportunity cost in the choice for entrepreneurship in favor of wage employment, that is, the wages given up as an employee. We argue that just like outside observers, potential entrepreneurs will face great difficulty to predict their earnings from entrepreneurship. The focus on earnings forgone may help to solve the lack of robust empirical support for the effect of financial incentives on the decision to become an entrepreneur. We find, consistent with standard theory, that a higher mean, lower variance, and higher skew in the relevant wage distribution reduce the likelihood of entrepreneurship.
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftEntrepreneurship: Theory and Practice
    Vol/bind40
    Udgave nummer2
    Sider (fra-til)249-268
    Antal sider20
    ISSN1042-2587
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - 2016

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