Stars and Misfits: A Theory of Occupational Choice

Thomas Astebro, Jing Chen and Peter Thompson ()
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Jing Chen: Department of Economics - FIU - Florida International University [Miami]

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Abstract: In some datasets, the self-employed earn markedly less than wage earners, even though those at the top end of the distribution earn more than their wage-earning peers. This observation is explained by a model of entrepreneurial choice that blends Lazear's [Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 23, pp. 649-680 (2005)] notion that entrepreneurs must be skilled in a variety of activities with the strong complementarity between skills central to Kremer's [Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 108, pp. 551-575 (1993)] O-ring theory of production. We test some predictions of the model using two datasets, with mixed results.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; self-employment; jack-of-all-trades; skill complementarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Published in 2010

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Working Paper: Stars and Misfits: A Theory of Occupational Choice (2008)
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