Title: Who Succeeds as an Entrepreneur? From Social Capital to Genetic Potential

Speaker: Zhang Weilong, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Cambridge, UK; Selwyn College Fellow. His research focuses on how genetic endowments and personality traits affect people’s choices in labor market participation and family decisions, with an emphasis on model-based methods. After obtaining a Bachelor of Mathematics degree and a Master of Economics degree from Renmin University of China, he received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. His research results have been published in top academic journals such as "Journal of Political Economy", "Review of Financial Studies", "Journal of Labor Economics", "Quantitative Economics", "European Economic Review" and "Journal of Human Resources". Currently, he also serves as an Associate Editor of "International Economic Review".

Abstract: Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and the National Child Development Study (NCDS), this paper presents new evidence on the role of genetic endowments in entrepreneurship. We distinguish between registered entrepreneurs and unregistered self-employed individuals. Among nearly 10,000 genotyped individuals, two polygenic scores (PGSs) are central: the educational attainment PGS predicts entry into registered entrepreneurship, while the risk tolerance PGS predicts both entrepreneurship and self-employment. The returns are concentrated in entrepreneurial activities: a one-standard-deviation increase in the risk tolerance PGS raises the income of entrepreneurs and the self-employed by 20-30%, while the same genetic predisposition yields almost no returns in salaried work. The educational PGS also yields a substantial entrepreneurial premium, even beyond the effects of years of education and family background. Intergenerational evidence shows strong assortative matching between children’s and parents’ genes and environments, consistent with gene-environment correlation and assortative mating. Together, these stylized facts emphasize that entrepreneurship amplifies the economic returns to cognitive and risk-related genetic traits.

Date & time: 15 September 2025, 15:00-16:30

Venue: B321, Zhixin Building, Central Campus, Shandong University