Wired in? Genetic traits and entrepreneurship around the world
Wired in? Genetic traits and entrepreneurship around the world
Entrepreneurship is a cornerstone of technological innovation and economic development. We posit that the genetic make-up of countries (populations) will affect the extent of their engagement in entrepreneurial activities, in addition to the factors showcased by prior literature (e.g., institutions, culture, socio-economic, demographic, or historical). To test this conjecture we employ a country-level genetic measure that is commonly associated with novelty- and risk- seeking behaviours using the frequency of the 2- and 7-repeat allele variants of the DRD4 exon III gene. Our results confirm a systematic, positive association between genetics and entrepreneurial activities across 97 countries using a large set of controls and battery of robustness tests. These findings reconcile the “nature versus nurture” debate with respect to entrepreneurial activities around the world and provide some valuable insights on the significance of different determinants of entrepreneurship.
Krammer, Marius
24ce872e-5044-4846-bb35-88e12c74c854
20 April 2021
Krammer, Marius
24ce872e-5044-4846-bb35-88e12c74c854
Krammer, Marius
(2021)
Wired in? Genetic traits and entrepreneurship around the world.
Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 168, [120788].
(doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120788).
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is a cornerstone of technological innovation and economic development. We posit that the genetic make-up of countries (populations) will affect the extent of their engagement in entrepreneurial activities, in addition to the factors showcased by prior literature (e.g., institutions, culture, socio-economic, demographic, or historical). To test this conjecture we employ a country-level genetic measure that is commonly associated with novelty- and risk- seeking behaviours using the frequency of the 2- and 7-repeat allele variants of the DRD4 exon III gene. Our results confirm a systematic, positive association between genetics and entrepreneurial activities across 97 countries using a large set of controls and battery of robustness tests. These findings reconcile the “nature versus nurture” debate with respect to entrepreneurial activities around the world and provide some valuable insights on the significance of different determinants of entrepreneurship.
Text
SK_EG_Genetics_entrepreneurship
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 31 March 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 April 2021
Published date: 20 April 2021
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 497791
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/497791
ISSN: 0040-1625
PURE UUID: 67e347fa-b0a5-4238-b071-ca5e2a696d90
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 31 Jan 2025 17:40
Last modified: 04 Feb 2025 05:01
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Marius Krammer
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics