Like Father, Like Son? Entrepreneurial history repeats itself.

A recent study conducted by Ohio State University gives newmeaning to the notion that parents set strong examples for theirchildren. The survey, analyzed by economists Thomas A. Dunn andDouglas Holtz-Eakin at Syracuse University, reveals thatparents' actions have a direct influence on their kids becomingentrepreneurs.

According to the findings, sons were nearly three times aslikely to become self-employed if their fathers were self-employed;32 percent of those with entrepreneurial fathers started abusiness, compared with only 12 percent of sons withoutself-employed fathers. Similarly, 24 percent of daughters withentrepreneurial mothers also donned entrepreneurial hats, whilejust 13 percent of daughters whose mothers weren'tself-employed did so.

Some might say it's simply a case of children following intheir parents' footsteps. However, the data found that amongsons with entrepreneurial fathers, only 10 percent entered into abusiness in the same line of work--virtually identical to thosesons whose fathers weren't self-employed.