For many people owning a business is a dream. As a nation we idolize such people as "entrepreneurs." We assemble data that show "small business" as the heart of the economy (even though the definition of "small" is fewer than 500 employees).

Let's look at this segment of the economy. Oops. The data we have are not as good as we want. We do not know how many proprietors or business operators are full-time and how many are part-time. It could be that many a heroic "entrepreneur" is running a hobby business as a tax dodge.

The best data we can get about non-farm proprietors are from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which relies on the forms you file with the Internal Revenue Service.

These data tell us that business owners accounted for 14 percent of all U.S. jobs in 1990 and 18 percent in 2005. For Indiana, the numbers were somewhat lower at 12.5 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively. In 1990 we ranked 40th among the states and 47th in 2005.

Do these facts mean Hoosiers are less entrepreneurial than those in other states?

We remember 1990 to 2005 as a period when individual business owners were the innovative, flexible new spirits fighting stodgy old businesses, or when Blondie opened her own catering service to Dagwood's dismay.

But all this enterprise did not provide gains to entrepreneurs that equaled those of wage and salary workers. The national average for wages and salaries grew by 72 percent compared to an advance of 69 percent in average non-farm proprietor earnings. Indiana's record in this period was different: average wages and salaries grew by only 65 percent (a weak 43rd fastest), while average proprietors' earnings for Hoosiers advanced by 72 percent (19th fastest).

This higher rate of growth for non-farm proprietors moved Indiana from 34th among the states in average earnings ($14,570) to 24th ($25,119) in 2005. Although proprietor earnings were rising, the average self-employed Hoosier continued to earn less than the state's average wage and salaried employee.

In 1990, Indiana, proprietors earned 69 percent of the average for wage and salaried workers (38th in the U.S.). This figure advanced to 72 percent in 2005 (22nd), but still left the Hoosier proprietor with $9,700 less than the Indiana wage and salaried employee.

Does this suggest it is better to work for someone else than to be self-employed? We can not go too far in comparing the earnings of wage and salaried workers to those of proprietors. Even if no one had both types of compensation, we don't have full information on benefits or hours worked.

Remember that many proprietors boast they work longer hours at their jobs because they love the activity and the risk. Others, however, delight in telling us that they work fewer hours than wage and salary "slaves."

Today we have university courses in entrepreneurial activities. Some old-timers say that it is not a subject that can be taught, that either you have the "itch" or you do not. Those who teach the classes say the modern entrepreneur needs guidance through a complex maze of the tax codes, regulations and business relationships.

If both are right, success may be knowing where to scratch.

Morton Marcus is an economist, author and speaker formerly at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. His column solely represents his opinion. He can be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com.