The Impact of Risk Attitudes on Entrepreneurial Survival

24 Pages Posted: 24 Jun 2009

See all articles by Marco Caliendo

Marco Caliendo

University of Potsdam; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Frank M. Fossen

University of Nevada, Reno; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Alexander Kritikos

Europa-Universitaet Viadrina - Fakultat fur Wirtschaftswissenschaften; German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 2008

Abstract

Risk attitudes have an impact on not only the decision to become an entrepreneur but also the survival and failure rates of entrepreneurs. Whereas recent research underpins the theoretical proposition of a positive correlation between risk attitudes and the decision to become an entrepreneur, the effects on survival are not as straightforward. Psychological research posits an inverse U-shaped relationship between risk attitudes and entrepreneurial survival. On the basis of recent waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we examine the extent to which risk attitudes influence survival rates of entrepreneurs. The empirical results confirm that persons whose risk attitudes are in the medium range survive significantly longer as entrepreneurs than do persons with particularly low or high risks.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Risk Attitudes, Survival and Failure

JEL Classification: D81, J23, M13

Suggested Citation

Caliendo, Marco and Fossen, Frank M. and Kritikos, Alexander S., The Impact of Risk Attitudes on Entrepreneurial Survival (June 2008). DIW Berlin Discussion Paper No. 798, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1424853 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1424853

Marco Caliendo (Contact Author)

University of Potsdam ( email )

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Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

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Frank M. Fossen

University of Nevada, Reno ( email )

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Reno, NV 89557-0030
United States

HOME PAGE: http://business.unr.edu/faculty/ffossen/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Alexander S. Kritikos

Europa-Universitaet Viadrina - Fakultat fur Wirtschaftswissenschaften ( email )

15230 Frankfurt (Oder)
Germany

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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