Full Citation
Title: Essays on the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2021
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Abstract: The essays on the gender gap in entrepreneurship examine the trade-offs between women’s family formation choices and career aspirations in the setting of small businesses and entrepreneurship. The first essay titled “Family Comes First: Reproductive Health and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship,” uses Census data to show how better access to reproductive care increases women’s propensity to become entrepreneurs, correlates positively with female entrepreneurial activity, and negatively with female entrepreneurial age. Examining firm size and personal income suggests it also improves the success of female-led businesses. Finally, it shows how policies securing better reproductive care enable more women to become entrepreneurs and, potentially, drive economic growth. The second essay titled “Reproductive Rights and Women’s Access to Capital,” explores the impact of reproductive care restrictions on female entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital. It tests the hypothesis that better access to reproductive care enables women to plan their family formation better, avoid unexpected pregnancies, and gain access to cheaper capital as a result of this reduced risk. This hypothesis is analyzed using restricted data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) in a difference-in-differences setting around the enactment of state-level legislation limiting access to reproductive care. It finds restrictions on reproductive care to be detrimental to women seeking to raise capital and open their own firms. Women who have limited reproductive care access are less likely to borrow, end up taking smaller loan amounts, and have lower leverage ratios.
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Authors: Zandberg, Mordechai Yehonatan
Institution: Boston College
Department: Finance
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Pages: 1-170
Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS CPS
Topics: Gender, Reproductive and Sexual Health
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