The link between measured risk aversion and the decision to become an entrepreneur iswell established, but the link between risk preferences and entrepreneurial success is not.Standard theoretical models of occupational choice under uncertainty imply a positivecorrelation between an...

T.W. Schultz (1975) proposed that returns to human capital were highest in economicenvironments where technology, price or production shocks were common and managerial skillsto adapt resource allocations to those shocks were most in need. We hypothesize that variationin returns to human capital...

[...]This study shows that tourism did respond positively to the local public amenities built as part ofthe Vision Iowa program. County taxable retail sales rose by 0.9% for every 1% increase in expenditureson the projects. Because the State of Iowa taxes sales at 5% of each additional dollar of...

This paper examines the roles of specialized versus general skills in explaining variation in thereturns to an agriculture degree across majors inside and outside the agricultural industry. Thefocus on returns by sector of employment is motivated by the finding that most agriculturalmajors are...

Universities spend almost $2 billion subsidizing their collegiate sports programs. Even the mostpopular women’s sport, basketball, fails to break even. An application of Becker’s theory ofcustomer discrimination is used to calculate the relative preference for men’s basketball for bothmen...

A theoretical model is advanced that demonstrates that, if teacher and student attendancegenerate a shared good, then teacher and student attendance will be mutually reinforcing.Using data from the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, empirical evidence supportingthat proposition is...

There are substantial differences in output per worker across states that persist over time. This studydemonstrates that differences in state taxation of capital income, capital ownership, and consumption canexplain why differences in labor productivity can persist. First, state tax policies...

Entrepreneurship is a hot topic both in academic and policy circles.1 There is a growingrecognition that entrepreneurship is a driving force in economic growth and development in bothestablished and emerging economies. There is also an increasing body of evidence suggestingentrepreneurship that...

We introduce a taxonomy that classifies industries using three criteria: net growth in thenumber of firms; the interrelationship between firm entry and firm exit; and the degree of urbanbiasin industry growth. We show that in 9 of 15 two-digit NAICS industries investigated, thereis evidence of...

This study analyzes whether economic conditions at the time of labor market entry affect entrepreneurship, using difference in business start-ups between cohorts of college students graduating in boom or bust economic conditions. Those graduating during an economic bust tend to delay their...