All in the family: Entrepreneurship as a family tradition

Family businesses are an important part of most economies. In the United States, they account for 90% of all businesses (Small Business Association, 2011) and are said to generate approximately 64% of the nation's GDP (Laird Norton Tyee, 2007). Across Europe, 70-80% of businesses are family businesses, including both SMEs and large businesses (Mandl, 2008). Many people who grew up in family businesses or around family members who were self employed eventually choose to start new businesses. In addition, more and more family businesses are now being passed to daughters, rather than to sons (Resources of Entrepreneurs, 2011). This study examines the proportions of men and women in a variety of countries whose motivation for starting a business was based on a family tradition for self-employment. The results show that, in several countries, more women than men state that this tradition was a motive for entrepreneurship.