Personality traits and beliefs on self-employment: An empirical study of the Middle East and North Africa region

Abstract

This cross-cultural entrepreneurial study examines the effects of personality traits and beliefs, specifically the internal locus of control (ILC) and religiosity, on self-employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In addition to these two cultural dimensions, our model controls for contextual factors. We estimate a two-level logistic regression model using data from the sixth and seventh waves of the World Values Survey and combining individual-level and contextual (country-year) predictors to explore the potential heterogeneous effects of ILC and religiosity. The findings reveal that the impact of ILC on the likelihood of self-employment across countries is positive and relatively homogeneous. However, the effect of religiosity on self-employment can be positive or negative. It is heterogeneous and contingent on country-year predictors. The country's economic context explains these cross-country variations in the influence of religiosity. Finally, differences in self-employment across countries are mainly driven by individual-level factors, while country-year variables account for only a small proportion of these variations. Given the MENA region's diverse cultural, social, and economic landscape, this study sheds light on an important yet underexplored research area in entrepreneurship: the homogeneous or heterogeneous impacts of ILC and religiosity on self-employment. It offers valuable theoretical and practical insights and policy recommendations for this unique entrepreneurial context.