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This paper reviews the definition of copreneurial couples used in empirical studies and addresses the difficulties associated with identifying these couples in research studies. Then, using an operational definition of copreneurs and data from the 1997 National Family Business Study (NFBS), copreneurs and noncopreneurs are compared on general demographic and business-related variables, lifestyle indicators, and measures of financial success. Descriptive findings indicate that copreneurs differ significantly from noncopreneurs on several variables. On average, copreneurial households are more likely to live in a rural area, have spouses working more weeks per year in the business, and have home-based businesses than are noncopreneurial households. Copreneurs report significantly lower levels on all objective and subjective measures of financial success than do noncopreneurs. They are more likely to view business as a way of life rather than a way to earn income when compared to noncopreneurs.
Fitzgerald et al. (Fri,) studied this question.