Are ‘born to rebel’ last-borns more likely to be self-employed?

Han, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2778-3338 and Greene, F. J. (2016) Are ‘born to rebel’ last-borns more likely to be self-employed? Personality and Individual Differences, 101. pp. 270-275. ISSN 0191-8869 doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.019

Abstract/Summary

This paper investigates birth order effects on adult self-employment. Drawing on Sulloway’s ‘born to rebel’ thesis, we test whether or not last-borns whose parents have no prior self-employment experience are more likely to bear and assume the risks associated with self-employment. We also test if parental self-employment experience moderates the relationship between last-borns and self-employment. Using large-scale life-span data on 6,322 cohort members, a within-family design, and controlling for demographic confounds such as the number of siblings, we find that last-borns from non-entrepreneurial families are more likely to be self-employed than first or middle-borns. However, in families with parental experience of self-employment, we find that last-borns in three or more child families are no more likely to be self-employed than their siblings.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/65813
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.019
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Central Services Henley Business School > Digitalisation, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
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