The Origins of Entrepreneurship: How Parental Role Models and Socialization Shape Later Entrepreneurial Intentions

Stefan Schneck

No 1233, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: This exploratory study examines the effects of parental socialization and parental role models at ages 7 to 10 on the entrepreneurial intentions of their children in adolescence. Analysis of German household data and more than 1,400 observations shows a moderation effect between parental role models and socialization. An adolescent’s willingness to become self-employed in the future is influenced by parental role models and moderated by parental child-rearing practices related to risk-taking during childhood. While child-rearing practices not focused on risk-avoidance reinforce the parental role model effect and increase an adolescent’s intentions to become self-employed, parental child-rearing practices geared toward risk aversion nullify any positive effects of having self-employed parents as role models. Parental socialization during childhood thus casts a long-term shadow and may explain why some children with self-employed parents have as little intention of becoming self-employed as children of employees. Early parental socialization practices may, thus, contribute to explaining the lack of willing entrepreneurs and family business successors.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intentions; life course theory; role model; self-employment; socialization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 p.
Date: 2025
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-eur and nep-sbm
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1233

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