TY  - JOUR
A1  - Konon, Alexander
A1  - Kritikos, Alexander
T1  - Prediction based on entrepreneurship-prone personality profiles:
BT  - sometimes worse than the toss of a coin
JF  - Small business economics : an international journal
N2  - The human personality predicts a wide range of activities and occupational choices-from musical sophistication to entrepreneurial careers. However, which method should be applied if information on personality traits is used for prediction and advice? In psychological research, group profiles are widely employed. In this contribution, we examine the performance of profiles using the example of career prediction and advice, involving a comparison of average trait scores of successful entrepreneurs with the traits of potential entrepreneurs. Based on a simple theoretical model estimated with GSOEP data and analyzed with Monte Carlo methods, we show, for the first time, that the choice of the comparison method matters substantially. We reveal that under certain conditions the performance of average profiles is inferior to the tossing of a coin. Alternative methods, such as directly estimating success probabilities, deliver better performance and are more robust.
KW  - Advice
KW  - Personality
KW  - Entrepreneurship
KW  - Profiles
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-018-0111-8
SN  - 0921-898X
SN  - 1573-0913
VL  - 53
IS  - 1
SP  - 1
EP  - 20
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Caliendo, Marco
A1  - Fossen, Frank
A1  - Kritikos, Alexander
T1  - Personality characteristics and the decisions to become and stay self-employed
JF  - Small business economics : an international journal
N2  - Based on a large, representative German household panel, we investigate to what extent the personality of individuals influences the entry decision into and the exit decision from self-employment. We reveal that some traits, such as openness to experience, extraversion, and risk tolerance affect entry, but different ones, such as agreeableness or different parameter values of risk tolerance, affect exit from self-employment. Only locus of control has a similar influence on the entry and exit decisions. The explanatory power of all observed traits among all observable variables amounts to 30 %, with risk tolerance, locus of control, and openness having the highest explanatory power.
KW  - Entrepreneurship
KW  - Personality
KW  - Big five
KW  - Risk tolerance
KW  - Locus of control
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-013-9514-8
SN  - 0921-898X
SN  - 1573-0913
VL  - 42
IS  - 4
SP  - 787
EP  - 814
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -