On the Origins of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Sibling Correlations

Mirjam Praag, Matthew Lindquist, Joeri Sol and Theodor Vladasel

No 11562, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We assess the broad importance of family and community background for entrepreneurship outcomes. We go beyond traditional, intergenerational associations by estimating sibling correlations in unincorporated and incorporated entrepreneurship using register data from Sweden. Sibling correlations range from 20% to 50%. They are consistently higher for more committed and incorporated entrepreneurship than for less committed or unincorporated entrepreneurship; they are also higher for brothers than sisters. We then assess what factors drive these correlations: parental entrepreneurship, neighborhoods, shared genes and financial resources help explain these high correlations, whereas immigration status, family structure and sibling peer effects have a limited contribution. The higher correlation for incorporated versus unincorporated entrepreneurship is explained mainly by the type of parental entrepreneurial engagement and financial resources, while the gap between brother and sister correlations in unincorporated entrepreneurship is largely driven by the geographic concentration of male dominated industries.

Keywords: Intergenerational persistence; Sibling correlations; entrepreneurship; Family background; Neighborhood effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 J62 L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-lab and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Journal Article: On the origins of entrepreneurship: Evidence from sibling correlations (2021)
Working Paper: On the Origins of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Sibling Correlation (2017)
Working Paper: On the Origins of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Sibling Correlations (2017)
Working Paper: On the Origins of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Sibling Correlations (2016)
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