Page 187 - 1-Entrepreneurship and Local Economic Development by Norman Walzer (z-lib.org)

176 Joseph Kayne

scholars and entrepreneurs continue to ask the fundamental question, “Can
entrepreneurship be taught?” (see Lyons, chapter 6). Proponents of the “na-
ture” side of this dialectic argue that innate characteristics such as opportu-
nity recognition, passion, and drive are the key to successfully creating and
growing commercial enterprises. The importance of genetic make-up was
recently bolstered by a study of rate of entrepreneurial activity among iden-
tical and fraternal twins. The research suggests that “genes may predispose
a person to develop specific traits to become extroverted and sociable that
then lead to self-employment” (Yuhasz 2006).
Advocates from the “nurture” school of thought counter with the posi-
tion that many aspects of entrepreneurship—making a difference, success—
are inherent in most people. Therefore, individuals’ decisions to start their
own business versus taking a salaried job are a matter of acculturation and
confidence that they have the skills and knowledge to successfully pursue
the entrepreneurship option.
There is no dearth of aspiring entrepreneurs among America’s youth. Be-
tween 1994 and 1997, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership
commissioned the Gallup Organization to conduct a series of four surveys
to determine the extent to which youth were interested in starting their own
businesses. Similar surveys were presented to two adult groups—(1) teach-
ers and (2) the general population.
The survey results became the basis for a book by William Walstad and
Marilyn Kourilsky (1999) titled, Seeds of Success: Entrepreneurship and Youth.
To their surprise, Walstad and Kourilsky found “that youth have a view of
entrepreneurship that was much more positive than we ever expected” (15).
Among the 1,008 survey respondents, 65 percent responded yes to the
question, “Do you think you would want to start a business of your own?”
Positive youth response exceeded that of both the general population (50
percent) and teachers (54 percent).
Equally important, a plurality of youth (41 percent) said that their pri-
mary reason for wanting to start a business was a desire “to be my own
boss.” This response mirrored the rationale provided by successful entre-
preneurs who regularly chose “control of their careers and lives” as the lead-
ing motivation for their career choice.
The high level of interest in entrepreneurship among America’s youth, how-
ever, has not translated into a corresponding rate of business start-ups. U.S. Bu-
reau of the Census estimates for 2003 show that the total number of stu-
dents—elementary through college graduate—totaled more than 63.5 million
individuals. For the same year, the Census Bureau reports just over 600,000
business formations. As Walstad and Kourilsky hypothesize, “If just a third of
6
the youth who expressed an interest in starting a business actually acted on
their aspirations at some point over their lifetimes, such initiative could sig-
nificantly increase new business formation in the United States!” (15).