|
Team heterogeneity in startups and its development over time
Kaiser, Ulrich
;
Müller, Bettina
|
URL:
|
https://ub-madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/34614
|
|
URN:
|
urn:nbn:de:bsz:180-madoc-346140
|
|
Dokumenttyp:
|
Arbeitspapier
|
|
Erscheinungsjahr:
|
2013
|
|
Titel einer Zeitschrift oder einer Reihe:
|
ZEW Discussion Papers
|
|
Band/Volume:
|
13-058
|
|
Ort der Veröffentlichung:
|
Mannheim
|
|
Sprache der Veröffentlichung:
|
Englisch
|
|
Einrichtung:
|
Sonstige Einrichtungen > ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung
|
|
MADOC-Schriftenreihe:
|
Veröffentlichungen des ZEW (Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung) > ZEW Discussion Papers
|
|
Fachgebiet:
|
330 Wirtschaft
|
|
Fachklassifikation:
|
JEL:
C10 , L26 , M13,
|
|
Freie Schlagwörter (Englisch):
|
Entrepreneurship , startups , skill heterogeneity , team dynamics
|
|
Abstract:
|
We investigate the workforce heterogeneity of startups with respect to education, age and wages. Our explorative study uses data on the population
of 1,614 Danish firms founded in 1998. We track these firms until 2001 which
enables us to analyze changes in workforce composition over time. Such a
dynamic analysis constitutes a hitherto neglected area of entrepreneurship research. To assess relative workforce heterogeneity, we construct a simulated
benchmark to which we compare observed workforce heterogeneity. We find
that the initial workforce is relatively homogeneous compared to our benchmark. Our result holds both for non-knowledge-based and, to a lesser extent,
knowledge-based startups. This seems surprising since a vast management
literature advocates heterogeneous teams. The difficulties associated with
workforce heterogeneity (like affective conflict or coordination cost) as well
as "homophily" (peoples inclination to bound with others with similar characteristics) hence appear to generally overweigh the benefits of heterogeneity
(like greater variety in perspectives or more creativity). We also document
that workforces become more heterogeneous over time startups add workers with skills different from the workforce at startup. The initial supposedly "poor" mix of workforce characteristics is hence adjusted as the startup matures. This increase in workforce heterogeneity is, however, smaller compared
to our benchmark but substantially larger than is team additions had the
same characteristics as the initial team members.
|
 | Das Dokument wird vom Publikationsserver der Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim bereitgestellt. |
 Suche Autoren in
Sie haben einen Fehler gefunden? Teilen Sie uns Ihren Korrekturwunsch bitte hier mit: E-Mail
Actions (login required)
 |
Eintrag anzeigen |
|
|
![[img]](https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)