Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Entrepreneurship and Occupational Choice: Genetic and Environmental Influences

We applied quantitative genetics techniques to a sample of 347 pairs of monozygotic and 303 pairs of dizygotic twins taken from the MIDUS database to examine the influence of genetic factors on the variation across people in the tendency to be self-employed and to choose other occupations. We found that a heritability hypothesis is supported for the tendency to be self-employed, both currently and ten years prior, with no influence of the shared environment. We also found that this heritability is substantive for male as well as female twins. Moreover, we found support for a heritability hypothesis for the intention to be self-employed in the future and for a bivariate heritability model between entrepreneurial intentions and the tendency to be self-employed. Finally, we found support for a heritability hypothesis for other occupational choices, specifically the choice to be a teacher, manager or salesperson.

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