Testosterone and Tendency to Engage in Self-Employment

Nicos Nicolaou · Pankaj C. Patel · Marcus T. Wolfe

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Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences Sexual Differentiation and Disorders

Abstract

Does testosterone increase the tendency to engage in self-employment? The results presented to date have been mixed. Using three different studies, we provide additional evidence on the relationship between testosterone and self-employment. Drawing on a cross section of 2,146 individuals (1,178 males and 968 females) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys’ 2011–2012 sample, and controlling for endogeneity (with red blood cell count, percentage hematocrit, and zinc supplement intake in the past 30 days as instruments), we find that serum testosterone levels are positively associated with self-employment for males (marginally significant, two-tailed test). As testosterone levels could be affected by social, economic, and biological factors during one’s life course, we draw more robust inferences by assessing whether the 2D:4D digit ratio, a marker of prenatal testosterone exposure, influences the likelihood of self-employment. From Understanding Society’s Innovation Panel Wave 6, we tested separate models for 449 males and 525 females, and our results indicate that males (respectively, females) with a lower 2D:4D ratio in their left hand, or higher prenatal testosterone exposure, have a significantly greater (respectively, marginally significant) likelihood of self-employment (two-tailed test). Finally, we examine the twin testosterone transfer effect in a sample of opposite-sex and same-sex twins from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States and provide additional support for the marginally significant (two-tailed test) positive association between testosterone and self-employment. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2016.2664 . This paper was accepted by Toby Stuart, entrepreneurship and innovation.

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References

2000Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions 1993Timid Choices and Bold Forecasts: A Cognitive Perspective on Risk Taking 1998Testosterone and dominance in men 2004The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship 2000Timid Choices and Bold Forecasts: A Cognitive Perspective on Risk Taking 2000Personality and Risk‐Taking: Common Bisocial Factors 2000Self-employment in OECD countries 2002Self-Employment as a Career Choice: Attitudes, Entrepreneurial Intentions, and Utility Maximization

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