Title: Personal happiness and employment growth in new technology-based firms

Authors: Arndt Lautenschläger

Addresses: University of Applied Sciences Jena, Faculty of Business Administration, Carl-Zeiss-Promenade 2, 07745 Jena, Germany

Abstract: This paper empirically analyses the relationship between personal happiness and employment growth in new technology-based firms. Hereby, personal happiness is measured by the founder|s satisfaction with his/her life, work, financial situation, and leisure time. A unique dataset is used consisting of 441 entrepreneurs in several fields of high-technology as well as technology-based services. It is found that in an early firm stage performance and individual satisfaction go hand in hand with a few exceptions. In the long run, there is identified a strong correlation between employment growth and the founder|s satisfaction with his/her financial situation. Further, a negative correlation between high employment growth and the founder|s satisfaction with his/her life is observable. Several implications are presented.

Keywords: start-ups; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; new technology-based firms; NTBF; entrepreneurial success; employment growth; job creation; firm performance; personal satisfaction; entrepreneurship; personal happiness; well-being; entrepreneurs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2011.043383

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2011 Vol.3 No.4, pp.359 - 374

Published online: 24 Oct 2014 *

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