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Widespread attention is being paid to the alleged rise of narcissism in people in general and business leaders in particular. Surprisingly, hardly any studies have focused on the link between narcissism and entrepreneurship. Using self-reported data from 4798 respondents from three countries, we explore the associations between trait narcissism and six different entrepreneurial aspects that represent the entire entrepreneurial process. Overall, our findings suggest that a positive link exists between narcissism and entrepreneurship that is particularly salient in the early stage of the entrepreneurial process (e.g., entrepreneurial intention) and in the individual aspects of entrepreneurship (e.g., entrepreneurial orientation, well-being of the entrepreneur). Our additional analyses reveal that the adaptive aspect of narcissism (i.e., leadership/authority) is most consistently linked to entrepreneurship and that the links between narcissism and entrepreneurship are predominately linear. Finally, our findings are largely robust when different sets of controls are added.

There is a small body of literature linking attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its symptoms to entrepreneurial manifestations. Some studies take a subclinical perspective by studying the presence of symptoms, while other studies take a clinical perspective by studying the formal diagnosis of ADHD. The entrepreneurial manifestations examined range from entrepreneurial intention to the choice to become self-employed and from entrepreneurial orientation (EO) to entrepreneurial success. Despite its prominence in the entrepreneurship literature, to date only one study tested for a link with EO. The present study aims to replicate the relationship between ADHD symptoms and EO using a large data set of French small business owners. We do so by discriminating between the two dimensions of ADHD, namely attention-deficit and hyperactivity, as well as the three dimensions of EO, namely innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking. We do not find a link between ADHD and EO, although we do find a positive link between ADHD and the risk-taking subdimension of EO. Hyperactivity symptoms are positively related to EO, which is mainly driven by the subdimensions proactiveness and risk-taking. We do not find a link between attention-deficit symptoms and EO, though there is a negative link between attention-deficit and proactiveness.

A growing conversation has emerged linking ostensibly dark or pathological individual-level characteristics to entrepreneurship. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most central and emblematic. Recent studies have made great strides—articulating the theoretical relevance of ADHD-type behavior in entrepreneurship and suggesting a positive link consistent with narratives in the popular press. However, quantitative studies have yet to empirically examine ADHD in line with its theoretical roots and definition—as a clinical disorder. The present paper contributes by providing a theoretically–empirically aligned test of the connection between the condition of ADHD and entrepreneurial intention and action. Based on a large-scale data collection effort (N = 9869) and cross-sectional methodology, the results find a positive connection between clinical ADHD and entrepreneurial intentions as well as entrepreneurial action. This grounds prior research on ADHD and entrepreneurship, indicating that individuals with ADHD are indeed more likely to not just espouse entrepreneurial intentions, but also to initiate business venturing. Considering the design, it suggests a self-selection toward entrepreneurship in individuals with ADHD (before potentially being a choice of last resort).

A growing conversation has emerged linking ostensibly dark or pathological individual-level characteristics to entrepreneurship. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) emerged as a proof-of-concept phenomenon. Recent studies in entrepreneurship journals have made great strides – articulating the theoretical relevance of ADHD-type behavior in entrepreneurship, and suggesting a positive link consistent with narratives in the popular press. While the recent research has made important inroads, quantitative studies have yet to empirically examine ADHD in line with its theoretical roots and definition – as a full-blown clinical disorder. The present paper contributes by providing a theoretically-empirically aligned test of the connection between clinical ADHD and entrepreneurial intention as well as action.

The scholarly literature often distinguishes between so-called opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship and between “pull” and “push” motivations. Despite the pervasive use of this terminology, empirical analyses are mostly based on a single country. The present paper contribute

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) symptoms have been associated with the decision to become self-employed. Although these symptoms are generally regarded as disadvantageous, there may also be a bright side. To our knowledge, however, there has been no systematic, epidemiological evidence to support this claim. This paper examines the association between ADHD symptoms and self-employment in a population-based sample from the STAGE cohort of the Swedish Twin Registry (N = 7208). For replication, we used a sample of Dutch students who participated in the Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (N = 13,112). In the Swedish sample, we found a positive association with self-employment for both general ADHD symptoms [odds ratio (OR) 1.13; 95 % confidence intervals (CI) 1.04–1.23] and hyperactivity symptoms [OR 1.19; 95 % CI 1.08–1.32], whereas no association was found for attention-deficit symptoms [OR 0.99; 95 % CI 0.89–1.10]. The positive association between hyperactivity and self-employment was replicated in the Dutch student sample [OR 1.09; 95 % CI 1.03–1.15]. Our results show that certain aspects of ADHD, in particular hyperactivity, can have a bright side, as they are positively associated with self-employment.

Little is known about the relation between entrepreneurship and the extent of psychiatric symptoms. Validated psychiatric symptom scores are seldom used for non-clinical reasons. One prevalent symptom that deserves our interest is Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is a developmental disorder characterized by inattentiveness and hyperactivity that has been linked to occupational choice and performance. Building on the person–environment fit literature, we hypothesize that individuals who exhibit behavior associated with ADHD are more likely to have entrepreneurial intentions. Using a sample of 10,104 students enrolled in higher education, we can confirm our prediction that students with a higher level of ADHD-like behavior are more likely to have entrepreneurial intentions. Additionally, we show that risk taking propensity is a mediator that partly explains this positive effect. Our study points to the importance of behavioral tendencies associated with developmental disorders, when making entrepreneurship decisions. Our study contributes to the literature on the determinants of entrepreneurship, which so far has largely neglected the effects of psychiatric symptoms on entrepreneurship.

Gender differences at five levels of entrepreneurial engagement are explained using country effects while controlling for individual-level variables. We distinguish between individuals who have never considered starting up a business, those who are thinking about it, and nascent, young, and established entrepreneurs. We use a large international dataset that includes respondents from 32 European countries, three Asian countries, and the United States. Findings show that cross-country gender differences are largest in the first and final transitions of the entrepreneurial process. In part

This study empirically investigates factors influencing satisfaction levels of founders of new ventures, using a representative sample of 1,107 Dutch founders. We relate entrepreneurial satisfaction (with income, psychological burden and leisure time) to firm performance, motivation and human capital. Founders with high levels of specific human capital are more satisfied with income than those with high levels of general human capital. Intrinsic motivation and that of combining responsibilities lowers stress and leads to more satisfaction with leisure time. Women are more satisfied with their income than men, even though they have a lower average monthly turnover.

In the media role models are increasingly being acknowledged as an influential factor in explaining the reasons for the choice of occupation and career. Various conceptual studies have proposed links between role models and entrepreneurial intentions. However, empirical research aimed at establishing the importance of role models for (nascent) entrepreneurs is scarce. Knowledge of the presence of entrepreneurial role models, their specific functions and characteristics is therefore limited. Our explorative empirical study is a first step towards filling this gap. Our study is based on the outcomes of a questionnaire completed by a representative sample of 292 entrepreneurs in three major Dutch cities - entrepreneurs who have recently started up a business in the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors, business services and other services. We provide indications of the presence and importance of entrepreneurial role models, the function of these role models, the similarity between the entrepreneur and the role model, and the strength of their relationship.

This paper investigates time allocation decisions in new ventures of female and male entrepreneurs using a model that distinguishes between effects of preferences and productivity on the number of working hours. Using data of 1,158 entrepreneurs we find that the preference for work time in new ventures relates to start-up motivation, propensity to take risk and availability of other income. Productivity of work time relates to human, financial and social capital endowments and the prevalence of outsourcing activities. This study also evaluates actual profit effects 1 year after start-up. We find that on average women invest less time in the business than men. This can be attributed to both a lower preference for work time (driven by risk aversion and availability of other income) and a lower productivity per hour worked (due to lower endowments of human, social and financial capital).

This paper explores the role of social interactions at the work floor for understanding gender pay differences in the EU. Using data from the Fourth European Working Conditions Survey, we find that sex similarity of subordinate and supervisor decreases the pay disadvantage for women in non-managerial occupations, though working for a female boss is associated with a lower wage than working for a man. This may point at a ‘discrimination-for-pay’ effect. Female workers can avoid part of the discrimination against them by working for a woman and accepting lower pay. And when they face stronger discrimination in the situation of a male supervisor, they are ‘bribed’ by being offered a higher salary. Different results are obtained for managerial workers where sex similarity of worker and superior actually puts women at a further disadvantage. In addition to effects of vertical gender segregation, we examine whether wage formation is influenced by the proportion of women per sector (i.e., horizontal segregation), but find only weak support for the so-called social bias theory. Our main message is that while the traditional human capital model tends to study the wage formation process in isolation, gender pay differentials can also be seen as a social phenomenon, stemming from social interactions in labor markets.

We investigate which countries have the highest potential to achieve entrepreneurial progress. This progress is defined using an entrepreneurial ladder with five successive steps: “never thought about starting a business”, “thinking about starting a business”, “taking steps to start a business”, “running a business for less than three years”, and “running a business for more than three years”. We assess the influence of individual-level and country-level variables on progression through these stages. Data are used from the 2007 “Flash Eurobarometer Survey on Entrepreneurship”, covering 27 European countries and the United States. We find that countries display large variation in the ease with which businesses come into existence and survive. In the US many people think about setting up a business whereas Europeans are better at achieving higher levels of engagement. Particularly in Austria, France and Lithuania there appear to be low probabilities to advance in the process. Our analysis suggests that country differences can be explained by the level of economic development and risk tolerance while the administrative and financial climate play a role for some steps. The paper also provides results on the influence of individual-level demographic and obstacle perception variables.

This study empirically investigates factors that influence overoptimism across nascent entrepreneurs. We distinguish between two main groups of determinants (information, motivation) and three types of overoptimism (income, psychological burden, leisure time). Findings indicate that entrepreneurs who have relevant business information are more realistic and that entrepreneurs with a high level of general knowledge, acquired through education or previous (unrelated) entrepreneurial experience, are more overoptimistic. External advice and business planning do not appear to limit subsequent overoptimism. Entrepreneurs are less overoptimistic about the pecuniary or non-pecuniary benefits of self-employment when these benefits are closely related to the initial motivation for starting up the business.

This paper investigates why women’s self-employment rates are consistently lower than those of men. It has three focal points. It discriminates between the preference for self-employment and actual involvement in self-employment using a two (probit) equation model. It makes a systematic distinction between different ways in which gender influences the preference for and actual involvement in self-employment (mediation and moderation). It includes perceived ability as a potential driver of self-employment next to risk attitude, self-employed parents and other socio-demographic drivers. A representative data set of more than 8,000 individuals from 29 countries (25 EU member states, US, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) is used (the 2004 Flash Eurobarometer survey). The findings show that women’s lower preference for becoming self-employed plays an important role in explaining their lower involvement in self-employment and that a gender effect remains that may point at gender-based obstacles to entrepreneurship.

We investigate whether women and men differ with respect to the steps they take in the entrepreneurial process, distinguishing between five successive steps described by the following positions: (1) "never thought about it"; (2) "thinking about starting up a business"; (3) "taking steps to start a business"; (4) "running a business for less than three years"; (5) "running a business for more than three years". This paper provides insights into the manner in which women and men climb the entrepreneurial ladder and the factors that influence their position on the ladder. We use data from the 2006 "Flash Eurobarometer survey on Entrepreneurship" consisting of more than 10,000 observations for 25 member states of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and the United States. Findings suggest that for men it is easier to climb the ladder and that this may be attributed partly to their higher tolerance of risk.

This paper investigates the commitment-orientation of HRM practices in female- and male-led firms. A distinction is made between emphasizing commitment or control in the design of HRM practices. To test for gender differences use is made of a sample of 555 Dutch firms. Contrary to what is generally believed it is found that – when controlled for relevant factors related to the business (e.g., firm size, age, sector) – HRM in female-led firms is more control-oriented than that in male-led firms. More specifically, female-led firms are more likely to be characterized by fixed and clearly defined tasks, centralized decision-making and direct supervision of the production process.

This paper examines the relationship between entrepreneurship (as measured by fluctuations in the business ownership rate) and unemployment in Japan for the period between 1972 and 2002. We find that, although Japan’s unemployment rate has been influenced by specific exogenous shocks, the effects of entrepreneurship on unemployment are not different when compared to other OECD countries. In the past, small firms in Japan benefited from the protective environment of the keiretsu structure. This secure environment no longer exists, and a new market environment conducive to new venture creation and growth has not yet been established. We argue that the Japanese government should actively stimulate an entrepreneurial culture.

Most studies investigating the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth treat entrepreneurs as a homogeneous group. This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial diversity on national economic growth. Using data for 36 countries participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor we investigate whether the impact on growth depends on socio-demographic diversity in entrepreneurship (in terms of age, education and gender). We find that in less developed countries older and higher educated entrepreneurs are particularly important for stimulating economic growth, while for developed countries younger entrepreneurs are more important. Accordingly, policy should aim at stimulating particular groups of entrepreneurs, rather than just the number of entrepreneurs.

This paper investigates the determinants of new venture creation across industries and locations for 103 Italian provinces between 1997 and 2003. We allow for differences in regional opportunities across industries and investigate the impact of a range of factors on entrepreneurship in different industries: manufacturing, retailing and wholesaling, hotels and restaurants. Our results show that wage costs deter entry in manufacturing and that regions with industrial districts are characterized by higher start-up rates. Firm entry in commercial sectors appears higher in large cities and areas with strong economic progress. For hotels and restaurants we find that tourism positively influences new firm formation. In terms of policy we do not find a significant effect of recently introduced regional laws promoting new firm formation.

This paper investigates time allocation decisions in new ventures of female and male entrepreneurs using a model that distinguishes between effects of preferences and productivity on the number of working hours. Using data of 1,158 entrepreneurs we find that the preference for work time in new ventures relates to start-up motivation, propensity to take risk and availability of other income. Productivity of work time relates to human, financial and social capital endowments and the prevalence of outsourcing activities. This study also evaluates actual profit effects one year after start-up. We find that on average women invest less time in the business than men. This can be attributed to both a lower preference for work time (driven by risk aversion and availability of other income) and a lower productivity per hour worked (due to lower endowments of human, social and financial capital).

This paper examines the interrelations between self-employment and unemployment rates for Spain in the period 1972-2004, comparing them with the general pattern observed for OECD countries. We apply the model as proposed by Audretsch, Carree, van Stel and Thurik (2005) to Spain. The divergence between predicted and actual unemployment levels in Spain are explained by country-specifi c shocks in the period under study, which are outside the scope of the model. This indicates that the general mechanism of employment generation by the self-employed may also be applicable to Spain, at least in the long run. The Spanish industrial structure is characterized by a relatively high and fl uctuating unemployment level and a relatively high and stable business ownership rate, suggesting that the quantity of business ownership in Spain does not have a particularly large contribution to bringing down unemployment. In recent years we see that the unemployment rate decreases and stabilizes. We argue that, in addition to several labor market reforms, an increase in the quality of business ownership in Spain may also have contributed to the recent decrease in the unemployment rate. Keywords: entrepreneurship, self-employment, unemployment, economic growth, Spain

[Please note that there exists an updated version of this publication at http://hdl.handle.net/1765/8989] This study investigates the factors explaining the number of hours invested in new ventures, making a distinction between the effect of preference for work time versus leisure time and that of productivity of work time. Using data of 1247 Dutch entrepreneurs, we find that time invested in the business is determined by various aspects of human, financial and social capital, availability of other income, outsourcing, side activities and gender. We show that some of the identified factors relate to preferences and others to productivity. Women appear to invest less time in the business as a result of a range of indirect productivity effects.

Ingrid Verheul (1975) graduated in Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1999. She started writing here PhD. thesis on female entrepreneurship in 2000. In addition to female entrepreneurship, her research interests include determinants of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education. Her work has been published in several international scientific journals including Journal of Business Venturing, Small Business Economics, International Small Business Journal and International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education. She is co-editor of the book: “Entrepreneurship: Determinants and Policy in a European-US Comparison” published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2002. Today research and policy have been more and more fuelled by the idea that female entrepreneurs are important for economic progress. Not only do female entrepreneurs have an important contribution to employment creation and GDP, they also seem to have value through increasing entrepreneurial diversity. Together with the growing number of female entrepreneurs throughout the world in the last decades there has been an increase in the number of studies on female entrepreneurship. Because most of these studies focus upon female entrepreneurship in Anglo-Saxon countries, the understanding of the characteristics of female entrepreneurs and the existence of gender differences in other developed countries is limited. The present thesis investigates gender differences in entrepreneurship using (predominantly) data from the Netherlands. Different aspects of entrepreneurship are studied including the individual, the organization and the environment. A systematic distinction is made between direct and indirect gender effects on entrepreneurship to be able to disentangle ‘pure’ gender effects and effects of factors that are correlated with gender. Findings indicate that female and male entrepreneurs differ with respect to a range of aspects such as self-perception, time investments, start-up capital and HRM. Mos, The study of female entrepreneurship traditionally has been inspired by gender equality issues. Female entrepreneurs were assumed to experience gender-related discrimination and to experience more difficulties when starting up and running a business than their male counterparts. Today research and policy have been more and more fuelled by the idea that female entrepreneurs are important for economic progress. Even when issues such as barriers and obstacles to female entrepreneurs are raised in the gender and entrepreneurship debate, this is usually done from the perspective that female entrepreneurs are an untapped resource and have potential to contribute to a country's economic performance. Indeed, although gender equality is one of the arguments underlying the support for female entrepreneurs within the European Union, the argument that female entrepreneurs (have the potential to) contribute to economic performance continues to play a role here. In the report Good practices in the promotion of female entrepreneurship of the European Commission (2002, p.3) it is argued that women face a number of gender-specific barriers to starting up and running a business that have to be tackled as women are considered 'a latent source of economic growth and new jobs and should be encouraged'. Hence, the main argument to date for studying women's entrepreneurship is that female entrepreneurs are an engine of economic growth' (Ahl, 2002, p. 125). The basis for this argument is the acknowledgement that entrepreneurship (in general) is important for economic performance. The link between entrepreneurship and economic growth has been established by several scholars and is well documented (see Carree and Thurik, 2003, for an overview). Moreover, in its goal for Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 the Lisbon European Council (2000) emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation to be developed in particular by s

Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 29 countries this study investigates the (differential) impact of several factors on female and male entrepreneurship at the country level. These factors are derived from three streams of literature, including that on entrepreneurship in general, on female labor force participation and on female entrepreneurship. The paper deals with the methodological aspects of investigating (female) entrepreneurship by distinguishing between two measures of female entrepreneurship: the number of female entrepreneurs and the share of women in the total number of entrepreneurs. The first measure is used to investigate whether variables have an impact on entrepreneurship in general (influencing both the number of female and male entrepreneurs). The second measure is used to investigate whether factors have a differential relative impact on female and male entrepreneurship, i.e., whether they influence the diversity or gender composition of entrepreneurship. Findings indicate that – by and large – female and male entrepreneurial activity rates are influenced by the same factors and in the same direction. However, for some factors (e.g., unemployment, life satisfaction) we find a differential impact on female and male entrepreneurship. The present study also shows that the factors influencing the number of female entrepreneurs may be different from those influencing the share of female entrepreneurs. In this light it is important that governments are aware of what they want to accomplish (i.e., do they want to stimulate the number of female entrepreneurs or the gender composition of entrepreneurship) to be able to select appropriate policy measures.