nep-ent New Economics Papers
on Entrepreneurship
Issue of 2024‒02‒05
four papers chosen by
Marcus Dejardin, Université de Namur


  1. Income Taxation and Hours Worked in Different Types of Entrepreneurship By Can, Ege; Fossen, Frank M.
  2. Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Questioning the Mission Economy By Henrekson, Magnus; Sandström, Christian; Stenkula, Mikael
  3. Gendered Access to Finance: The Role of Team Formation, Idea Quality, and Implementation Constraints in Business Evaluations By Vojtech Bartos; Silvia Castro; Kristina Czura; Timm Opitz
  4. Imperfect Take-up of COVID-19 Business Support Programs By HONDA Tomohito; HOSONO Kaoru; MIYAKAWA Daisuke; ONO Arito; UESUGI Iichiro

  1. By: Can, Ege (University of Nevada, Reno); Fossen, Frank M. (University of Nevada, Reno)
    Abstract: We investigate the effect of personal income tax (PIT) rates on the number of hours entrepreneurs work weekly. Using the rotating panel data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey from 2003 to 2019, we estimate instrumental variable regressions in first differences to exploit changes in the tax code for identification. We distinguish between self-employed owners of incorporated versus unincorporated businesses and examine their differential responses. The findings reveal that higher individual-specific marginal PIT rates increase the hours worked among entrepreneurs with incorporated businesses, which could be explained by the availability of tax avoidance strategies. Among unincorporated entrepreneurs, we find a significant response to PIT rates in hours worked only for those who work 50 or more hours per week.
    Keywords: income taxes, entrepreneurship, self-employment, labor supply, incorporated, unincorporated
    JEL: H24 H25 J22 J23 L26
    Date: 2023–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16683&r=ent
  2. By: Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Sandström, Christian (Jönköping International Business School); Stenkula, Mikael (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))
    Abstract: The notion that society should be organized around large so-called missions has gained momentum in public debate, and the reemergence of active industrial policy across the world has been inspired by academic scholars promoting the idea of Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies (MOIPs). The volume Moonshots and the New Industrial Policy: Questioning the Mission Economy provides a comprehensive assessment and normative critique of the efficacy of such policies. Besides the introductory chapter, it consists of 16 chapters distributed across three overarching themes: theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence, and alternative paths. This paper provides some additional analysis, pins down the most important general conclusions and suggests future research questions. Today’s economies are highly dependent on a well-functioning process of decentralized experimentation, selection, and screening. Instead of large scale MOIPs, governments should strive to create an institutional framework that levels the playing field for potential entrepreneurs while encouraging productive entrepreneurship.
    Keywords: Mission-oriented policies; Innovation policy; New industrial policy; Moonshots; Rent seeking; Public choice
    JEL: H50 L26 L52 O31 O38 P16
    Date: 2024–01–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1484&r=ent
  3. By: Vojtech Bartos (University of Milan); Silvia Castro (LMU Munich); Kristina Czura (University of Groningen); Timm Opitz (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition)
    Abstract: We analyze gender discrimination in entrepreneurship finance. Access to finance is crucial for entrepreneurial success, yet constraints for women are particularly pronounced. We structurally unpack whether loan officers evaluate business ideas and implementation constraints differently for male and female entrepreneurs, both as individual entrepreneurs or in entrepreneurial teams. In a lab-in-the-field experiment with Ugandan loan officers, we document gender discrimination of individual female entrepreneurs, but no gender bias in the evaluation of entrepreneurial teams. Our results suggest that the observed bias is not driven by animus against female entrepreneurs but rather by differential beliefs about women’s entrepreneurial ability or implementation constraints in running a business. Policies aimed at team creation for start-up enterprises may have an additional benefit of equalizing access to finance and ultimately stimulating growth.
    Keywords: access to finance; gender bias; entrepreneurship; lab-in-the-field;
    JEL: C93 G21 J16 L25 L26 O16
    Date: 2023–12–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:473&r=ent
  4. By: HONDA Tomohito; HOSONO Kaoru; MIYAKAWA Daisuke; ONO Arito; UESUGI Iichiro
    Abstract: Not all firms and individuals targeted by government support measures take up the support even when eligible, i.e., take-up is imperfect. Using data on the use by small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan of various business support measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine whether such imperfect take-up is observed and if so, why. Given that the eligibility criteria for the measures were based on the decline in monthly sales from the previous year, we use a regression discontinuity design. Our results show that take-up of all the measures we examine was imperfect except for one, business continuity grants (BCGs). Our results further show that the imperfect take-up of measures other than BCGs was mitigated when firms that were eligible for those other measures also became eligible for a BCG. Results from sub-sample analyses indicate that these findings can be explained by the transaction costs involved in applying for and using these measures and not by information frictions or a lack of knowledge about the measures.
    Date: 2024–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:24001&r=ent

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