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on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Mertz, Mikkel (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Ronchi, Maddalena (Northwestern University); Salvestrini, Viola (Bocconi University) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that exposure to entrepreneurs during adolescence increases women's entry and performance in entrepreneurship and improves the allocation of talent in the economy. Using population-wide registry data from Denmark, we exploit idiosyncratic within-school, cross-cohort variation in early exposure to entrepreneurs, measured by the share of an adolescent's peers whose parents are entrepreneurs at the end of compulsory school. Early exposure, particularly to the entrepreneur parents of female peers, encourages girls' entry and tenure into this profession, while it has no impact on boys. This effect is associated with the creation of successful and female-friendly firms. Furthermore, early exposure reduces women's probability to discontinue education at the end of compulsory school and to hold low wage jobs through their lives. Finally, we find evidence in support of three main channels: (i) access to specific information; (ii) changes in aspirations and goals; (iii) increased consideration of entrepreneurship as a potential career. Together these results challenge the view that the most successful female entrepreneurs would enter this profession regardless of early exposure. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice, talent allocation, entrepreneurship, gender |
| JEL: | J24 J16 L26 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17801 |
| By: | Naudé, Wim (RWTH Aachen University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a primer on climate technology entrepreneurship, recognizing its limitations and potential adverse consequences. Climate technology entrepreneurship is needed to contribute to mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and to help decouple economic growth from resource use. This paper identifies and describes three climate technology gaps: (i) an energy climate tech gap, an (ii) overshoot climate tech gap; and (iii) a resilience climate tech gap. The paper furthermore argues that policies for supporting climate technology entrepreneurship, including entrepreneurial ecosystems and mission-oriented approaches, have significant shortcomings. Furthermore, the paper concludes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is unlikely to make a difference to the world’s climate change predicament. Hence, climate technology entrepreneurship is no panacea for climate change and ecological overshoot caused by human activity. On its own it will not save the world. |
| Keywords: | climate change, entrepreneurship, climate technology, sustainable development |
| JEL: | L26 Q54 O31 L53 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17794 |
| By: | Chahine, Salim (Banque du Liban); Daher, Mai (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of ‘learning from peers’ on the fundraising abilities of start-up companies. Employing data on the financing rounds of privately owned portfolio companies, we find that companies observe the round amounts of their most successful peers and learn to negotiate higher round amounts with venture capital investors. We further show that the number of common directors or venture capital firms between portfolio companies and their most successful peers has a positive impact on the round amounts of these portfolio companies, which supports the existence of conversational learning. Moreover, observational learning from peers is higher in hot markets, where investors rely on less costly information on peers. Our findings confirm that both observational and conversational learning allow portfolio companies to be in a better negotiating position, thus enhancing their ability to secure funding and invest in their growth. |
| Keywords: | Peer effect; portfolio companies; learning; venture capital funding; exit |
| JEL: | G24 G32 G41 |
| Date: | 2025–02–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:1121 |
| By: | Isabella Maassen; Filip Mellgren; Jonas Overhage |
| Abstract: | Monopsonistic labor markets create misallocation of labor while generating profits. These in turn incentivize firms to innovate, which drives aggregate growth. This paper explores the trade-off between static efficiency and growth by developing a tractable endogenous growth model with heterogeneous firms and upward sloping labor supply curves. We show that monopsony can rationalize the prevalence of unproductive yet innovating firms that would otherwise be crowded out by more productive competitors. Our model calibrated to U.S. data confirms previous findings that imperfectly competitive labor markets distort static efficiency. However, we find that monopsony also leads to higher growth. On balance, we estimate that a 1% narrowing of the markdown increases the present value of output by about 1.08%. |
| Keywords: | monopsony power, creative destruction, productivity, innovation, economic growth. |
| JEL: | O31 O47 J42 E24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11820 |
| By: | André Diegmann; Laura Pohlan; Andrea Weber |
| Abstract: | We study how connections to German federal parliamentarians affect firm dynamics by constructing a novel dataset linking politicians and election candidates to the universe of firms. To identify the causal effect of access to political power, we exploit (i) new appointments to the company leadership team and (ii) discontinuities around the marginal seat of party election lists. Our results reveal that connections lead to reductions in firm exits, gradual increases in employment growth without improvements in productivity. Adding information on credit ratings, subsidies and procurement contracts allows us to distinguish between mechanisms driving the effects over the politician’s career. |
| Keywords: | politicians, firm performance, identification, political connections |
| JEL: | O43 L25 D72 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11691 |
| By: | Afridi, Farzana (Indian Statistical Institute) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the structure and quality of self-employment in India over a decade. India, historically, has had a much larger share of workers who are self-employed and a smaller proportion of wage and salaried workers. This structure of labour force participation has not shifted much in decades. In recent years, the proportion of self-employed has risen relative to the pre-pandemic era, and much more so for women. At the same time, significant underemployment accompanies low earnings of the self-employed. The paper highlights three key constraints for improving the quality of or transitioning out of self-employment – vocational skilling, access to formal credit and legal support for entrepreneurship. It concludes by discussing the implications of technological change and digitization for self-employment and the need for reforming the legal framework of self-employment in India. |
| Keywords: | quality of work, gender, trends, self-employment, India |
| JEL: | J2 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17842 |
| By: | Gu, Wulong |
| Abstract: | Despite their good intent, regulations and their accumulation over time impose real costs to businesses and may have a negative impact on economic growth and competitiveness. Accurately measuring these costs and benefits is important for understanding if regulations are achieving their desired results. This paper uses a new, modelled, measure of regulatory burden developed by KPMG and Transport Canada to inform about the possible overall impact of the changing number of regulations faced by firms on Canadian economic activity. Measuring regulatory burden is complex, and there is not a consensus on the best approach. The novel Transport Canada – KPMG measure is based on counting the number of regulatory provisions in Federal legislation and is one of several aggregate measures of regulatory burden available. It shows that regulatory requirements in Canada rose 2.1% per year from 2006 to 2021. A measure from the US based Mercatus Center that is not as broadly defined showed an increase in the number of provisions rising 1.1% per year over the same period while the OECD measure of product market regulation (PMR) that tracks the stringency, rather than the number, of regulations declined. Using the newly developed Transport Canada – KPMG measure, regression estimates show that regulatory accumulation from 2006 to 2021 is associated with a decline in gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 1.7 percentage points and reduced employment growth by 1.3 percentage points in the business sector. A smaller decline on labour productivity of 0.4 percentage points was also estimated. The business sector investment growth was lowered by an estimated 9.0% (with the effect being bigger for small firms than for large firms) for the period 2006 to 2021 and that regulatory accumulation is associated with lower business entry and exit rates. Understanding economy wide costs and benefits from regulations is challenging. The results of the study provide a first indication for Canada of the estimated impacts of the changing number of regulations over time on businesses. While the results of the study point to potentially important costs for the economy, it is not meant to reflect a full economic assessment of the benefits of regulations nor economic impacts associated with not introducing regulations. |
| Keywords: | Business, Economic Growth, Regulatory Accumulation, Economic impacts, Business Dynamism |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2025–02–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp3e:2025002e |
| By: | Ceballos, Francisco; Aguilar, Francisco; de Brauw, Alan; Nguyen, Trang; van den Berg, Marrit |
| Abstract: | Concurrent with its rapid economic growth, Viet Nam has been experiencing a food systems transformation. Broad changes in the food environment have been a key part of this transition. While the availability of processed food is ubiquitous, the food environment continues to be largely dominated by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). So, to build strategies to improve the availability and affordability of healthy foods, MSMEs are a key entry point. In this paper, we use primary survey data to separate key sources of variation in MSMEs’ organizational dimensions and business practices by type of outlet, rural-urban location, and gender of the owners. We focus on outcomes related to employment, food sources, business finance, good business practices, and nutrition knowledge and attitudes. We find limited differences in this set of outcomes in terms of whether an outlet is located in a rural, peri-urban, or urban area, or in terms of the gender of its owners. Instead, most of the variation in outcomes can be linked to the type of outlet, raising specific types of outlets as a key focus when seeking to foster the supply of healthier foods in the food environment. |
| Keywords: | enterprises; food environment; food systems; gender; Vietnam; Asia; South-eastern Asia |
| Date: | 2025–04–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:174099 |
| By: | Domnisoru, Ciprian (Aalto University); Miller, Robert A. (Carnegie Mellon University) |
| Abstract: | Sons succeed their exiting CEO parents more often than daughters. How do entrepreneurial families reach this gender imbalance, and how does it affect the prospects of their firms and their offspring? Using Finnish administrative data on firms linked to population register data on shareholders and their extended families, we trace the steps leading to the succession decision, and its outcomes. We examine fertility patterns, finding evidence of son preference in natural births and adoptions by entrepreneurs. In families that appear to follow son-biased fertility stopping rules, we also find noticeable differences in human capital accumulation between sons and daughters. The transmission of human capital is also mediated by the extent to which women are employed in the industry of the entrepreneur parent. Gaps in income, board membership, and share ownership between sons and daughters of exiting CEOs emerge well before succession. Turning to firm outcomes, we find evidence that other family members, but not the children of exiting CEOs, appear to diminish firm performance relative to the results of professional CEOs. Overall, our results show family succession is a protracted process that begins with the birth of the first child. |
| Keywords: | gender differences, CEO transition, son preference, family firms, human capital |
| JEL: | G32 L25 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17800 |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert W |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, startups, self-employment, business ownership, entrepreneurs |
| Date: | 2024–01–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt4vv2f0pd |