A Common Parasite Can Make People More Entrepreneurial

When Daniel Lerner, a professor of entrepreneurship at Madrid’s IE Business School, and colleagues examined the medical and professional histories of 74,291 Danish women, they discovered that those infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii were, on average, 29% more likely than others to have founded a start-up, 27% more likely to have founded multiple ventures, and more than twice as likely to have founded their businesses alone. In addition, their ventures were more successful, on average, than those launched by their uninfected counterparts. The conclusion: A common parasite can make people more entrepreneurial.