Entrepreneurship: can the Jack-of-all-trades attitude be acquired?

Silva, Olmo (2004) Entrepreneurship: can the Jack-of-all-trades attitude be acquired? CEPDP (665). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK. ISBN 0753018055

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Abstract

Entrepreneurs are believed to be the ultimate engine of modern economic systems. Yet, the study of entrepreneurship suffers from the lack of consensus on the most crucial question: what makes an entrepreneur? A recent theory developed by Edward Lazear suggests that individuals mastering a balanced set of talents across different fields, i.e. the Jacks-of-All-Trades (JATs), have a high probability of becoming entrepreneurs. In this paper, I investigate whether the JAT Attitude is just an innate ability or a skill that can be trained to enhance individuals’ chances of becoming entrepreneurs. Using panel techniques, I show that changes in the spread of knowledge across different fields do not increase the probability of becoming an entrepreneur. This suggests that, if the JAT Attitude matters for entrepreneurship, it is an innate and time-invariant individual attribute, rather than a skill that can be acquired.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Additional Information:	© 2004 Olmo Silva
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance Geography & Environment
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting > M1 - Business Administration > M13 - Entrepreneurship J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2008 13:26
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 22:56
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/19923

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