Non-Pecuniary Determinants of Occupational Choice in the Entertainment and Sports Industry: A Ghana Study

The price of labour is the wage rate, and it is this wage rate that determines the labour market outcomes (labour demand and supply) in a perfectly competitive labour market ceteris paribus. However, beyond the wage, there are several other factors that influence one’s choice of occupation and sector of economic activity. This current paper employed a purposive sample of 150 professionals from the music, film, and football industry with the aid of a structured questionnaire. The multinomial logit regression estimation techniques based on a purposive sample of individuals in the entertainment and sports industry was conducted to investigate the non-pecuniary determinants of occupational choice in these industries in Ghana. The study provides empirical evidence to suggest that age, educational background, parental background, geographical context as well as talent significantly influence an individual’s choice of occupation in the industry. The study concludes with the assertion that apart from wage as a major driving force of career choice, which in the study is even insignificant, there are other non-pecuniary reasons why an individual will engage in entertainment or sports as a career or profession.