Knocking on Heaven’s Door? Entrepreneurship, Firm Growth, and Health Risks
We examine the physical health consequences to entrepreneurs of firm growth and decline. Using register-based panel data (2000–2021), we find that entrepreneurs and hired CEOs are, on average, healthier and live longer than individuals from a socio-economically similar random sample from the general population. However, our findings also reveal that entrepreneurs are more likely to fall ill during their tenure and die younger than hired CEOs. Importantly, our findings demonstrate that both cumulative exposure to growth and episodic, rapid declines in sales and in the number of employees are equally taxing for entrepreneurs and hired CEOs.
Authors
- Alexander McKelvie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2937-7923)
- Markus Jokela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0117-0012)
- Daniel Lerner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9848-4757)
- Teemu Kautonen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9357-5337)
- Aino Tenhiälä (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4406-3671)
- Jukka Partanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6449-3997)
Institutions
- IE University (ES)
- Universidad del Desarrollo (CL)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Syracuse University (US)
- University of Vaasa (FI)
- Zayed University (AE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Published
- 2024-10-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587241280079
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.39
Funders
- Foundation for Economic Education
- KAUTE-Säätiö
- Zayed University