Entrepreneurs Take Wild Risks, Right?

Since capitalism rewards risk-taking, entrepreneurs must be be less risk-averse than the rest of us, right? Not so fast. A 2004 paper by Hongwei Xu and Martin Ruef concludes that “entrepreneurs are significantly more risk-averse than the general population in pursuing pecuniary benefits.” They tend to limit financial risks that may endanger autonomy and business viability.

More:

“Maybe Entrepreurs Don’t Like Risk Much After All,” Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Entry-Level Entrepreneurs

“Researchers from Germany and Sweden found that … entrepreneurs … have a tendency to display anti-social behavior as teenagers. There wasn’t a link between entrepreneurial tendencies and severe crimes, but those who later founded their own companies were more likely as teenagers to have been truant, ignored their parents’ rules, cheated and shoplifted minor items, compared with others in the sample.

The Truth About Dishonesty

Duke professor and behavioral economist Dan Ariely recently addressed the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) on the topic of honesty. Video of his lecture is here, but the short animated excerpt above is even more fun.

Illustrator: Andrew Park of Cognitive Media for RSA Animate.

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Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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