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  • July 2010
  • Article
  • Management Science

Workplace Peers and Entrepreneurship

By: Ramana Nanda and Jesper B. Sorensen
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:11
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Abstract

We examine whether the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity is related to the prior career experiences of an individual's co-workers, using a unique matched employer-employee panel dataset. We argue that coworkers can increase the likelihood that an individual will perceive entrepreneurial opportunities as well as increase his or her motivation to pursue those opportunities. We find that an individual is more likely to become an entrepreneur if his or her co-workers have been entrepreneurs before. Peer influences also appear to be substitutes for other sources of entrepreneurial influence: we find that peer influences are strongest for those who have less exposure to entrepreneurship in other aspects of their lives.

Keywords

Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Perception; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence

Citation

Nanda, Ramana, and Jesper B. Sorensen. "Workplace Peers and Entrepreneurship." Management Science 56, no. 7 (July 2010): 1116–1126.
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About The Author

Ramana Nanda

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • House Prices, Home Equity and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from U.S. Census Micro Data By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda
  • Are Transformational Ideas Harder to Fund? Resource Allocation to R&D Projects at a Global Pharmaceutical Firm By: Joshua Krieger and Ramana Nanda
  • Investment Committee Voting and the Financing of Innovation By: Andrey Malenko, Ramana Nanda, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Savitar Sundaresan
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