title: Health and entrepreneurship in four Caribbean Basin countries.
abstract: The literature dealing with health and entrepreneurship has focused on developed countries. We use a sample of almost 5000 business owners and wage-workers from four Caribbean Basin countries to study this relationship. Analyses are performed using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor along with the Visual Analogue Scale of the EQ-5D-5L instrument as an overall health rating. The results show that business owners are healthier than wage-workers, which is in line with the findings from studies in developed countries. Furthermore, better health is associated with a lower likelihood for fear of business failure to be a deterrent to new business formation, a greater likelihood of self-belief in having the skills to run a business, and an increased recognition of start-up business opportunities among wage-workers. These positive associations between health and entrepreneurial perceptions provide new evidence about why less healthy individuals refrain from entrepreneurship. Finally, we find that the healthiest business owners run the companies with the highest growth expectations.
authors.affiliation: Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology (EURIBEB), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: nrietveld@ese.eur.nl.
authors.forename: Cornelius A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rietveld
authors.affiliation: Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago; Centre for Health Economics, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation (EHERO), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jolanda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hessels
authors.affiliation: Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organisation (EHERO), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van der Zwan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D016520:Entrepreneurship / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010465:Perception; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Business ownership; Entrepreneurship; Health; Perceptions; Performance