About 40% of the factors that determine whether individuals become entrepreneurs can be found in their genes, a new scientific study by a group of scientists led by Nicos Nicolaou, lecturer at the Department of Public and Business Administration of University of Cyprus and visiting professor at the Imperial College of London, has concluded.
Nicolaou collaborated in this study to find whether entrepreneurs were born or made, with Scott Shane at
The study found that about 40% of the factors that determine whether individuals become entrepreneurs can be found in their genes. The remaining factors that influence the decision to become an entrepreneur include environmental factors such as training, education and opportunities.
The researchers studied genes affecting entrepreneurship among 1.740 identical (or monozygotic, MZ) twins, and compared it with the entrepreneurial activities of 1.714 of same-sex fraternal (or dizygotic, DZ) twins in the
By comparing the differences in the twin concordances for entrepreneurship between identical and non-identical twins the authors were able to establish the importance of genetic and environmental factors in entrepreneurial behaviour. Because identical twins share all of their genetic make-up, greater identical than non-identical twin concordances for entrepreneurship would indicate that genetic factors are important.
The researchers found that about 40% of the factors that determine whether individuals become entrepreneurs can be found in their genes. This was the first study that examined empirically the role of genetic factors in explaining the tendency of people to engage in entrepreneurial activity and linked the fields of management and behavioural genetics.
Professor Nicolaou said till today scientists believed that “the tendency of people to engage in entrepreneurial activity was exclusively based on gained individual differences and the influence of environment.†This study, he added, does not doubt the importance of environmental factors, such as training.
He said it is possible the genes of a person to be similar or identical to the genes of a successful entrepreneur but the success in the foundation or management of companies equally depends on experiences and techniques the individuals absorb either from the environment or the training programmes they attend.
