Will aging workers lead an entrepreneurship boom?
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Americans tend to picture successful entrepreneurs as young, bold risk takers, like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. But, as Chris Farrell points out in a recent Bloomberg Businessweek column, older entrepreneurs start companies too.
From Farrell's piece:
The popular image of older folks is hardly as stalwarts of entrepreneurial ambition and energy. They have a reputation for being set in their ways, unwilling to challenge the established order, showing little interest in the latest technologies and organizational ideas, thinking more about retirement than launching a new venture.
Think again. Although new business formation by the 55 to 64-year-old age group declined in 2011, its share of entrepreneurs is up sharply over the past 15 years--from 14.3 percent in 1996 to 20.9 percent in 2011. Business creation was lowest among the youngest age group, 20 to 34, over the same period, according to economist Robert W. Fairlie in the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, 1996-2011.
Farrell, contributing economics editor for Bloomberg Businessweek, will join The Daily Circuit Thursday to discuss the trend of aging entrepreneurs. Edward Rogoff, professor and chair of the Department of Management af the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, will also join the discussion alongside 2 Gingers Whiskey founder Kieran Folliard.
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