Personal Wealth and Self-Employment / Aymeric Bellon, J. Anthony Cookson, Erik P. Gilje, Rawley Z. Heimer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bellon, Aymeric.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Cookson, J. Anthony.

Gilje, Erik P.

Heimer, Rawley Z.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w27452.

NBER working paper series no. w27452

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

We examine how wealth windfalls affect self-employment decisions using data on cash payments from claims on Texas shale drilling to people throughout the United States. Individuals who receive large wealth shocks (greater than $50,000) have 51% higher self-employment rates. The increase in self-employment rates is driven by individuals who lengthen existing self-employment spells, and not by individuals who leave regular employment for self-employment. Moreover, the effect of wealth reverts for individuals whose payments run out. Rather than alleviating a financial constraint, our evidence suggests that unrestricted cash windfalls affect self-employment decisions primarily through self-employment's non-pecuniary benefits.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2020.