Entrepreneurial Couples

Michael S. Dahl, Mirjam Van Praag, Peter Thompson

    Research output: Contribution to book/anthology/report/conference proceedingArticle in proceedingResearchpeer-review

    3 Citations (Scopus)
    2 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    We study possible motivations for co-entreprenurial couples to start up a joint firm, using a sample of 1,069 Danish couples that established a joint enterprise between 2001 and 2010. We compare their pre-entry characteristics, firm performance and post-dissolution private and financial outcomes with a selected set of comparable firms and couples. We find evidence that couples often establish a business together because one spouse – most commonly the female – has limited outside opportunities in the labor market. However, the financial benefits for each of the spouses, and especially the female, are larger in co-entrepreneurial firms, both during the life of the business and post-dissolution. The start-up of co-entrepreneurial firms seems therefore a sound investment in the human capital of both spouses as well as in the reduction of income inequality in the household. We find no evidence of non-pecuniary benefits or costs of co-entrepreneurship.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationAcademy of Management Annual Meeting
    Number of pages28
    PublisherAcademy of Management
    Publication date2015
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015
    EventThe 75th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management - Vancouver, Canada
    Duration: 7 Aug 201511 Aug 2015
    Conference number: The 75th

    Conference

    ConferenceThe 75th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management
    NumberThe 75th
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityVancouver
    Period07/08/201511/08/2015
    SeriesAcademy of Management Proceedings
    ISSN2151-6561

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