Knocking on Heaven’s Door? Entrepreneurship, Firm Growth, and Health Risks

Jukka Partanen, Aino Tenhiälä, Teemu Kautonen, Markus Jokela, Daniel A. Lerner and Alexander McKelvie

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2025, vol. 49, issue 3, 642-667

Abstract: We examine the physical health consequences to entrepreneurs of firm growth and decline. Using register-based panel data (2000–2021), we find that entrepreneurs and hired CEOs are, on average, healthier and live longer than individuals from a socio-economically similar random sample from the general population. However, our findings also reveal that entrepreneurs are more likely to fall ill during their tenure and die younger than hired CEOs. Importantly, our findings demonstrate that both cumulative exposure to growth and episodic, rapid declines in sales and in the number of employees are equally taxing for entrepreneurs and hired CEOs.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; CEO; stress; mortality; health; high growth; decline; panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:49:y:2025:i:3:p:642-667

DOI: 10.1177/10422587241280079

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