Skill Variety, Innovation and New Business Formation

Arbeitspapier

We extend Lazear's theory of skills variety and entrepreneurship in three directions. First, we provide a theoretical framework linking new business creation with an entrepreneur's skill variety. Second, in this model we allow for both generalists and specialists to possess skill variety. Third, we test our model empirically using data from Germany and the Netherlands. Individuals with more varied work experience seems indeed more likely to successfully start up a new business and that being a generalist does not seem to be important in this regard. Finally, we find that innovation positively moderates the relationship between having varied experiences, and being successful in starting up a new business. Our conclusion is that entrepreneurs with more varied work experience are more likely to introduce innovations that have not only technical, but also commercial value. Our findings support the notion that entrepreneurship can be learned.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 7889

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Entrepreneurship ; New Firms; Startups ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
• Thema: entrepreneurship ; start-ups ; human capital ; innovation ; skills

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Hessels, Jolanda ; Brixy, Udo ; Naudé, Wim ; Gries, Thomas
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (wo): Bonn
• (wann): 2014

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/89813
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:41 MEZ