A chip off the old block? How parent-child interactions affect the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial intentions

Entrepreneurial parents can serve as sources of information and inspiration to transmit entrepreneurial intentions to their offspring. Yet we find that role modelling is not purely observational, but it requires social interactions between parents and children to take effect. Our results using more than 2,500 child-parent dyads from the German socio-economic panel show that only if the socialization intensity between self-employed parents and their child is high entrepreneurial intentions will be transmitted. The intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial intentions is dependent on the socialization intensity of the parents. The opportunity to share experiences with the children influences children's forming of entrepreneurial attitudes especially within same-sex parent-child dyads.