Is entrepreneurial success predictable? An ex-ante analysis of the character-based approach

Arbeitspapier

This paper empirically analyzes whether the character-based approach, which is based on the personality structure and the human capital of business founders, allows prediction of entrepreneurial success. A unique data set is used consisting of 414 previously unemployed persons whose personal characteristics were screened by different methods, namely a one-day assessment center (AC) and a standardized questionnaire, before they launched their business. Results are partly unexpected: first, there is almost no correlation detween the AC data and the questionnaire. Second, the predictive power of the AC data is slightly better than that of the questionnaire, but lower than expected in theory. Interestingly, for those subgrounds where the AC data have low predictive power, the questionnaire does better. Third, when success is measured in terms of employees hired, the character-based approach is a poor predictor.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Discussion Paper ; No. 259

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Estimation: General ; Labor Demand ; New Firms; Startups
• Subject: Entrepreneurship ; Psychological Assessment ; Character Based Approach ; Success Prediction ; Unternehmer ; Selbstständige ; Persönlichkeitspsychologie ; Humankapital ; Prognoseverfahren ; Erfolgsfaktor ; Theorie ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Caliendo, Marco ; Kritikos, Alexander S.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): European University Viadrina, Department of Business Administration and Economics
• (where): Frankfurt (Oder)
• (when): 2007

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/23827
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET