Abstract
The 2D: 4D digit ratio, the ratio of the length of the second finger to the length of the fourth finger, is often considered a proxy for testosterone exposure in utero. A recent study reported, among other things, an association between the left-hand 2D:4D and self-employment in a sample of 974 adults. In this preregistered study, we replicate the 2D:4D results on a sample of more than 2100 adults from the German Socioeconomic Panel-Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS). We find no statistically significant associations between 2D:4D and self-employment.
Highlights
Understanding the determinants of self-e mployment and entrepreneurship is important because entrepreneurs tend to innovate and prompt competition and thereby contribute to job creation and economic growth (e.g., Acs & Armington, 2006; Carree & Thurik, 2010; van Stel et al, 2005)
It has been argued that the combination of positive and null results could potentially be due to endogeneity between self- employment and testosterone since testosterone levels are not something fixed, but may react to, for instance, social context
In the preregistered exploratory analyses, we test if the association between 2D:4D and self-employment differs between men and women, but we find no statistically significant gender difference supporting that pooling the data is appropriate
Summary
Understanding the determinants of self-e mployment (with and without employees) and entrepreneurship is important because entrepreneurs tend to innovate and prompt competition and thereby contribute to job creation and economic growth (e.g., Acs & Armington, 2006; Carree & Thurik, 2010; van Stel et al, 2005). There is an even larger literature exploring the association between testosterone, a sex steroid, and self-e mployment. Have explored circulating levels of testosterone with mixed results (e.g., Greene et al, 2014; Nicolaou et al, 2018; van der Loos et al, 2013; White et al, 2006).. Prenatal testosterone exposure in utero has been proposed to play a clearer causal role on self-e mployment through the impact of prenatal testosterone exposure on fetal brain development that in turn affects personality and preferences (Nicolaou et al, 2018). As explored further in the Discussion section, the evidence of this supposed link between prenatal testosterone exposure and 2D:4D is mixed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
