An Analysis of Entrepreneurial Behaviour from Male Work Histories

Abstract

PICKLES A. R. and O'FARRELL P. N. (1987) An analysis of entrepreneurial behaviour from male work histories, Reg. Studies 21, 425–444. This paper analyses entrepreneurship in Ireland—North and South—based upon a sample of 4,300 male work histories. There is an extremely low rate of entrepreneurship in Ireland and only 8% of new ventures were in manufacturing. Complementary log-log models are used to analyse the factors underlying an individual's first start up. The model for males establishing single person businesses demonstrates that religious denomination is unrelated to self-employment; but entrepreneurship is higher in Northern Ireland than in the Republic. The probability of entering self-employment is also associated with community size, double job holding, and education. The establishment of employer businesses is at a lower level in the peripheral areas of the Irish Republic; and the model also shows that it is related to community size, education, religious denomination and socio-economic status ...