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α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Abstract This paper empirically investigates the impact of willingness to take risks on entrepreneurship. We use a quarter century of data on second-generation Americans from Current Population Surveys in conjunction with a measure of willingness to take risks based on the Global Preference Survey. The level of risk taking in the country of origin is found to have a positive and significant impact on the likelihood of being an entrepreneur. A one-standard deviation increase in risk taking increases the probability of being an entrepreneur by 18%. We find that risk taking is also robust to other preference and cultural factors such as trust, patience, and individualism, as well as several deep-root determinants of development.