The influence of risk aversion on the decision to become self-employed is a much discussedtopic in the entrepreneurial literature. Conventional wisdom asserts that the role model of anentrepreneur requires to make risky decisions in uncertain environments and hence thatmore risk-averse...

Risk attitudes have an impact on not only the decision to become an entrepreneur but also the survival and failure rates of entrepreneurs. Whereas recent research underpins the theoretical proposition of a positive correlation between risk attitudes and the decision to become an entrepreneur,...

The German government has spent between 7bn and 11bn Euro per year on active labor market policies (ALMP) in East Germany in the last decade. The effectiveness of the most important programs (in terms of participants and spending) such as job-creation schemes and vocational training has been...

We assess the experiences of Eastern European Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in order to deriverecommendations for their Western European counterparts. In particular, six dimensions arediscussed: (1) building a supportive stakeholder environment, (2) defining a marketing strategy, (3)using...

In this paper we investigate whether self-employed households use consumer loans tofinance their business activities. In particular, it is shown that self-employed householdsuse personal overdrafts significantly more often than employee households do. Thisdifference remains when controlling for...

How can a principal (an agent) ensure that an agent (a principal) will work (pay up), ifpayment (work) precedes work (payment)? When a banknote is torn in two, each part is byitself worthless. A principal can pre-commit to payment-on-delivery, by tearing a banknoteand giving the agent the first...

The in°uence of risk aversion on the decision to become self-employed is a much discussed topic in the entrepreneurial literature. Conventional wisdom asserts that being an entrepreneur means making risky decisions in uncertain environments; hence more risk-averse individuals are less likely to...

Die Existenzgründungsförderung für Arbeitslose gewinnt als arbeitsmarktpolitisches Instrument in Deutschland zunehmend an Bedeutung. Mit der Einführung des Existenzgründungszuschusses (ExGZ) zum 1.1.2003 steht gründungswilligen Arbeitslosen – neben dem Überbrückungsgeld (ÜG) – nun...

This paper empirically analyzes whether the character-based approach, which is based on the personality structure and the human capital of business founders, allows prediction of entrepreneurial success. A unique data set is used consisting of 414 previously unemployed persons whose personal...

This paper evaluates the impact of three major expansions in leave coverage in Germany on the long-run education and labor market outcomes of children. Evaluation of three policy reforms as opposed to a single reform enables us to analyze whether the impact of paid leave differs from that of...