One criticism of the estate tax is that it prevents the owners of family businesses from passing their enterprises to their children. The problem is that it may be difficult to pay estate taxes without liquidating the business. A natural question is why individuals with such concerns do not...

Examines sole proprietorships and the extent to which the decision to become an entrepreneur is influenced by inheritance size - i.e., access to capital. A group of approximately 3,000 people were identified through US Internal Revenue Service data, including estate tax returns to identify those...