Personality and performance of household non-farm enterprises in Ghana

Johnson Wilson Appiah  Kubi; William  Baah-Boateng; Louis  Boakye-Yiadom; Daniel Kwabena  Twerefou

Johnson Wilson Appiah Kubi University of Ghana
William Baah-Boateng University of Ghana
Louis Boakye-Yiadom University of Ghana
Daniel Kwabena Twerefou University of Ghana

Keywords: Personality, Household Non-farm enterprises, Ghana

Abstract

The study investigates the relationship between
personality traits of operators of household nonfarm enterprises and performance in Ghana
using the first two waves of the EGC-ISSER
socio-economic panel survey. Results based on
OLS, Random effects and Hausman and Taylor
models are presented using 1,280 enterprises in
both waves. The Big Five personality model of 44
items was used to measure the traits. The study
finds a positive relationship between extraversion
and enterprise performance while emotional
instability and openness have negative effects on
performance. The results are consistent with the
practice of bargaining for prices in the informal
sector. This evidence of a strong relationship
between specific traits and performance could
inform trainers of employees in formal and informal
labour markets not to focus on developing only
cognitive skills but also non-cognitive skills.