Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study investigates the impact of working hours on entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being. We posit that, as entrepreneurs invest considerable time and energy in working, such behavior constitutes a resource depletion process that adversely affects their subjective well-being. Additionally, we introduce subjective socio-economic status, which reflects the extent to which entrepreneurs believe their investment in resources has been successful, as a moderating factor in the relationship between working hours and subjective well-being. We argue that the resource gains indicative of high levels of SSS can alleviate the detrimental effects of prolonged working hours on entrepreneurs. Empirical evidence from a sample of 12,406 entrepreneur-year observations in the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) dataset between 2008 and 2022 supports the hypothesis that long working hours negatively affect subjective well-being. Moreover, SSS significantly moderated the relationship between working hours and subjective well-being, such that the negative relationship turned positive under high levels of subjective socio-economic status. Further, a post-hoc analysis reveals that the beneficial moderating effect of subjective socio-economic status on the relationship between working hours and subjective well-being is unique among entrepreneurs, as traditionally employed individuals with high subjective socio-economic status did not experience the same positive impacts on their subjective well-being.
