Patterns of entrepreneurial career development: An optimal matching analysis approach

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Authors

Longitudinal studies of entrepreneurial career development are rare, and current knowledge of self-employment patterns and their relationships with individual difference characteristics is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed employment data from a subsample of 514 participants from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (1984-2008). Results of an optimal matching analysis indicated that a continuous self-employment pattern could be distinguished from four alternative employment patterns (change from employment to self-employment, full-time employees, part-time employees, and farmers). Results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that certain socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age and gender) and personality characteristics (i.e., conscientiousness and risk-taking propensity) were related to the likelihood of following a continuous self-employment pattern compared to the other employment patterns. Implications for future research on entrepreneurial career development are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Developmental Science
Volume6
Issue number3-4
Pages (from-to)177-187
Number of pages11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012

    Research areas

  • Entrepreneurship - employment patterns, Entrepreneurship, optimal matching analysis, personality, self-employment, socio-economic panel

DOI