Risk, Entrepreneurship and Human Capital Accumulation

Abstract

Entrepreneurial human capital plays a relatively more important role in intermediate income countries, but professional human capital is relatively more abundant in richer economies. Because the return to entrepreneurship is risky, individuals devote less time to the accumulation of entrepreneurial skills and more to the accumulation of professional skills as per capita income grows. Countries that initially have too little of either entrepreneurial or professional skills may end up in a development trap. The steady state may be characterized by either too much or too little education.