Household Inequality, Entrepreneurial Dynamism, and Corporate Financing.

AuthorS. Ongena, F. Braggion, M. Dwarkasing
JournalThe Review of Financial Studies
Date20 May 2021
CategoryAcademic Publications
Volume34(5)
Page numbers2448–2507

Economic theories posit conflicting hypotheses on how wealth inequality affects entrepre-neurial dynamism. We investigate the impact of wealth inequality on business dynamics by constructing local measures of household wealth inequality based on financial rents, home equity, and 1880 farmland. We then identify the effect of wealth inequality on entrepre-neurship by instrumenting it with land distribution under the 1862 Homestead Act. Wealth inequality decreases firm entry and exit, and the proportion of high-tech businesses across metropolitan statistical areas. Wealth inequality also lowers the supply of public goods, such as education. Growth in income per capita consequently lags.