The link between measured risk aversion and the decision to become an entrepreneur is well established, but the link between risk preferences and entrepreneurial success is not. Standard theoretical models of occupational choice under uncertainty imply a positive correlation between an...

In Lazear (2005)’s model of entrepreneurship, individuals with more diverse academic and occupational training are more likely to become entrepreneurs, while more narrowly trained individuals become employees. We examine whether Lazear’s model can also explain which individuals...

This paper examines the extent to which differences in risk preferences between men and women explain why women have a lower entrepreneurship rate, earn less, and work fewer hours than men.  Data from the NLSY79 confirms previous findings that women are more risk averse than men.  However,...

We investigate the stability of measured risk attitudes over time, using a 13-year longitudinal sample of individuals in the NLSY79. We find that an individual’s risk aversion changes systematically in response to personal economic circumstances.  Risk aversion increases with lengthening...

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Students in majors with higher average quantitative GRE scores are less likely to attend graduate school while students in majors with higher average verbal GRE scores are more likely to attend graduate school. This sorting effect means that students whose cognitive skills are associated with...

If economic growth elsewhere raises the individual's earning prospects relative to those in the present location, then the individual will move. However, if the individual can exploit the economic growth elsewhere by commuting, he will not need to move to profit from the expansion. County-level...