The skill balancing act: When does broad expertise pay off?

Elisabeth Bublitz; Florian Noseleit

doi:10.1007/s11187-013-9474-z

The skill balancing act: When does broad expertise pay off?

Elisabeth Bublitz, Florian Noseleit^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Innovation & Organisation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

38 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We compare skill sets of employees working in businesses of different size to the skill sets of entrepreneurs. Employees in large businesses tend to have a lower skill balance than those working in small businesses; yet, the skill balance of entrepreneurs remains the largest. Our evidence suggests that the skill level and skill scope matter for balance and increase with formal education levels but decrease with the number of previous occupations. We find a positive relationship between skill balance and income that is strongest for entrepreneurs. For employees, the relationship remains positive but the magnitude of the association decreases when business size increases.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	17-32
Number of pages	16
Journal	Small Business Economics
Volume	42
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-013-9474-z
Publication status	Published - Jan-2014

Keywords

Entrepreneurship
Balanced skills
Firm size
Division of labor
OF-ALL-TRADES
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
FIRM
EMPLOYEES
JOB

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title = "The skill balancing act: When does broad expertise pay off?",

abstract = "We compare skill sets of employees working in businesses of different size to the skill sets of entrepreneurs. Employees in large businesses tend to have a lower skill balance than those working in small businesses; yet, the skill balance of entrepreneurs remains the largest. Our evidence suggests that the skill level and skill scope matter for balance and increase with formal education levels but decrease with the number of previous occupations. We find a positive relationship between skill balance and income that is strongest for entrepreneurs. For employees, the relationship remains positive but the magnitude of the association decreases when business size increases.",

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AB - We compare skill sets of employees working in businesses of different size to the skill sets of entrepreneurs. Employees in large businesses tend to have a lower skill balance than those working in small businesses; yet, the skill balance of entrepreneurs remains the largest. Our evidence suggests that the skill level and skill scope matter for balance and increase with formal education levels but decrease with the number of previous occupations. We find a positive relationship between skill balance and income that is strongest for entrepreneurs. For employees, the relationship remains positive but the magnitude of the association decreases when business size increases.

KW - Entrepreneurship

KW - Balanced skills

KW - Firm size

KW - Division of labor

KW - OF-ALL-TRADES

KW - ENTREPRENEURSHIP

KW - FIRM

KW - EMPLOYEES

KW - JOB

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VL - 42

SP - 17

EP - 32

JO - Small Business Economics

JF - Small Business Economics

IS - 1

ER -

The skill balancing act: When does broad expertise pay off?

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Keywords

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