The Returns to Education for Opportunity Entrepreneurs, Necessity Entrepreneurs, and Paid Employees
Freie Universität Berlin, School of Business & Economics Discussion Paper No. 2012/19
44 Pages Posted: 28 Aug 2012 Last revised: 5 Sep 2012
There are 3 versions of this paper
The Returns to Education for Opportunity Entrepreneurs, Necessity Entrepreneurs, and Paid Employees
The Returns to Education for Opportunity Entrepreneurs, Necessity Entrepreneurs and Paid Employees
The Returns to Education for Opportunity Entrepreneurs, Necessity Entrepreneurs, and Paid Employees
Date Written: August 21, 2012
Abstract
We assess the relevance of formal education for the productivity of the self-employed and distinguish between opportunity entrepreneurs, who voluntarily pursue a business opportunity, and necessity entrepreneurs, who lack alternative employment options. We expect differences in the returns to education between these groups because of different levels of control. We use the German Socio-economic Panel and account for the endogeneity of education and non-random selection. The results indicate that the returns to a year of education for opportunity entrepreneurs are 3.5 percentage points higher than the paid employees’ rate of 8.1%, but 6.5 percentage points lower for necessity entrepreneurs.
Keywords: returns to education, opportunity, necessity, entrepreneurship
JEL Classification: J23, J24, J31, I20, L26
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation