TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fossen, Frank M.
AU  - Neyse, Levent
AU  - Johannesson, Magnus
AU  - Almenberg, Anna Dreber
        TI  - 2D:4D and Self-Employment Using SOEP Data: A Replication Study
        PY  - 2020/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 13180
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp13180
        AB  - The 2D:4D digit ratio, the ratio of the length of the 2nd digit to the length of the 4th digit, is often considered a proxy for testosterone exposure in utero. A recent study by Nicolaou et al. (2018) reported an association between the lefthand 2D:4D and self-employment (in a sample of about 1,000 adults). In this preregistered study we replicate these results on a new and larger sample of about 2,600 adults from the German Socioeconomic Panel-Innovation Sample (SOEP-IS). We find no statistically significant associations between 2D:4D and self-employment and thus cannot confirm the findings of Nicolaou et al. (2018) for left-hand 2D:4D. 
Our estimated 99.5% confidence intervals are within an about 2 percentage points change in self-employment for a one standard deviation change in the 2D:4D when we pool results for men and women (the association does not differ significantly between men and women). Even larger studies are needed to rule out smaller effect sizes.
        KW  - testosterone
KW  - self-employment
KW  - entrepreneurship
KW  - hormones
KW  - digit ratio
        ER  -