Bath study links patience to business ownership and higher earnings

The University of Bath reported on 8 October that more patient UK employees were more likely to become business owners and earned more after making the transition. The findings link willingness to wait for rewards with entrepreneurial outcomes, but do not establish that becoming more patient causes business success.

The announcement draws on research by Virgilio Failla and Chris Dawson published in Small Business Economics on 26 September. It analyses historical survey observations from 2009–2023, rather than business outcomes measured this month. Its findings concern both the decision to leave paid employment and earnings after entering ownership.

What the UK business ownership study measured

The study used Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study, which follows individuals and families over time. The survey collects information about work, income, education, health and household circumstances, allowing researchers to examine changes in employment alongside participants’ other characteristics.

The paper’s baseline sample included 21,543 people, of whom 1,306 were observed entering business ownership. The analysis covered people aged 18–65 and excluded freelancers and subcontractors who were not business owners. Its results therefore should not be read as estimates for every form of self-employment.

What the entry and earnings figures mean

Bath’s announcement says the most patient participants were approximately 50% more likely to enter entrepreneurship than the most impatient. That is a relative comparison, not a 50-percentage-point increase. The paper compares predicted entry probabilities of 3.65% and 2.45% at patience levels one standard deviation either side of the mean.

The earnings figures require more caution. The university announcement reports approximately 40% higher earnings for more patient business owners, without specifying the comparison or model behind that figure. The paper’s conclusion instead reports an adjusted earnings difference of 6–10% between its patient and impatient comparison groups, depending on the specification.

Those figures cannot be treated as interchangeable estimates. Both sources describe an association between patience and higher earnings, but the announcement does not explain how its larger figure relates to the paper’s adjusted comparison. The results do not provide a demonstrated earnings gain from training someone to become more patient.

Why waiting might matter for entrepreneurs

“Entrepreneurship is often portrayed as being about acting quickly and seizing opportunities,” Dawson, a behavioural economist at Bath, said in the university announcement. He suggested that successful entrepreneurs may devote more effort to identifying opportunities and accept early financial costs when returns could take years to arrive.

The authors propose that impatient people search less thoroughly and are more willing to accept an available opportunity rather than wait for a better one. Lower investment and less planning could also help explain lower subsequent earnings. These are explanations advanced by the researchers, rather than proven benefits of a patience-building programme.

Independent research separates time costs from delayed rewards

Earlier independent research offers a different perspective on how entrepreneurs think about the future. A study by Cédric Gutierrez of Bocconi University, Randolph Sloof of the University of Amsterdam and Donal Crilly of London Business School was published online in Organization Science on 16 May 2023.

Their study distinguished preferences about future time commitments from preferences about money. In a laboratory-in-the-field study, people who discounted future time investments more heavily were more likely to become entrepreneurs. Two follow-up studies found that recent startup founders discounted future time investments more than salaried workers.

That research concerns how people value future demands on their time, a distinct question from willingness to wait for rewards. It is neither a replication of the Bath study nor a response to the new announcement, and does not independently verify the UK estimates.

What remains unproven about teaching patience

Bath suggests that business support programmes, incubators and entrepreneurship education could benefit from encouraging longer-term thinking. Its announcement, however, reports no trial showing that such training increases business earnings. The distinction matters when considering whether the observed relationship can be turned into an effective intervention.

The Bath authors also identify limitations in self-reported preferences and income reporting. In the paper, they propose future validation using incentivised preference tasks or administrative earnings records. Those checks would address weaknesses in the measurements underpinning the reported associations.