What makes an entrepreneur?

This article uses various micro data sets to study entrepreneurship. Consistent with the existence of capital constraints on potential entrepreneurs, the estimates imply that the probability of self-employment depends positively upon whether the individual ever received an inheritance or gift. When directly questioned in interview surveys, potential entrepreneurs say that raising capital is their principal problem. Consistent with our theoretical model's predictions, the self-employed report higher levels of job and life satisfaction than employees. Childhood psychological test-scores, however, strongly correlated with later self-employment. For many commentators this is the era of the entrepreneur. After years of neglect, those who start and manage their own businesses are viewed as popular heroes. They are seen as risk-takers and innovators who reject the relative security of employment in large organizations to create wealth and accumulate capital. Indeed, according to many, economic recovery... is largely dependent upon their ambitions and efforts.