Abstract
The present article identifies a societal and scholarly neglect for the field of small business ownership and health. We address health capital and its spillover effects and briefly outline a research program discriminating between pathogenic (negative for health) and salutogenic (positive for health) effects for a small business owner’s working life.
Highlights
The present section deals with health capital and its spillover effects
The third section provides some ideas about what a research program may look like and the fourth one concludes stressing the virtues of the discrimination between not just a pathogenic side of business ownership and a salutogenic one
The second reason for the neglect of the study of small business owners’ health has to do with the romanticization of entrepreneurship and heroic entrepreneurs, which leaves no role for weaknesses, suffering, and, health issues
Summary
Despite the societal and economic significance of small businesses, the study of the health of their owners has been largely neglected. It is closely connected to the University of Montpellier and the Montpellier Business School. It is not just involved with collecting health data of entrepreneurs and with studying them for scientific and societal reasons. The scientific analysis and its dissemination are done within a large network of colleagues and friends in France and abroad. In this respect, the first international workshop Health of Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs held at the Montpellier Business School on September 29– 30, 2016, was a milestone. The present article provides a cursory introduction into the field of small business owners and health. The third section provides some ideas about what a research program may look like and the fourth one concludes stressing the virtues of the discrimination between not just a pathogenic side of business ownership and a salutogenic one
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