The supposed creativity of left-handed and dyslexic individuals may fit well with an entrepreneurial occupation. Empirical evidence from two representative Dutch samples, however, shows that left-handed and dyslexic individuals are not more likely to be(come) entrepreneurs than right-handed and...

We analyze the determinants of reading literacy, mathematical skills and science skills of young immigrant children in The Netherlands. We find that these are affected by age at immigration and whether or not one of the parents is native Dutch.

Using the interaction of language of country of birth and age-at-arrival as instruments, we find strong evidence of a causal effect of English as Additional Language (EAL) on the native–immigrant wage gap for male employees in the UK.

Is India’s high fractionalization associated with mistrust between its two main religious communities? An inter-ethnic trust game field experiment confirms intergroup bias in mutually lower offers between urban Muslims and Hindus in Mumbai. There are no differences in trustworthiness based on...

This study quantifies the disadvantage in literacy skills that arises from the linguistic distance between their mother tongue and host country language, combining individual cross-country data on literacy scores with unique information on the linguistic distance between languages.

Using survey data from 25 European countries, we can show that in most of the countries the self-employed are more satisfied with their jobs than employees. This paper aims to discuss the reasons why this is the case. The results show that part of the differences in job satisfaction between...

This paper examines the impact of employment protection legislation (EPL) on hiring decisions by own-account workers and firing decisions by very small firms (one to four employees). Using data from the EU-15 countries, our results show that the strictness of employment protection legislation is...

Drawing from the literature on markets and market development we develop hypotheses on the startup and growth of formal business by business groups relative to independent entrepreneurs after reforms. We then test the hypotheses in a large sample of firms that were started up after reforms in...

This article discusses four standardization and adaptation strategies. Two strategies foster adaptation: one by submission, and the other by indifference. The other two strategies foster standardization: one by superiority and the other by disputable standardization. The study focuses on small...