Entrepreneurs that voluntarily choose to start a business because they are able to identify a good business opportunity and act on it-opportunity entrepreneurs-might be different along various dimensions from those who are forced to become entrepreneurs because of lack of other alternatives-necessity entrepreneurs. To provide evidence on these differences, this article exploits a unique data set covering a wide array of characteristics, including cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, and managerial practices, for a large sample of female entrepreneurs in Mexico. Descriptive results show that on average opportunity entrepreneurs have better performance and higher skills than necessity entrepreneurs. A discriminant analysis reveals that discrimination is difficult to achieve based on these observables, which suggests the existence of unobservables driving both the decision to become an opportunity entrepreneur and performance. Thus, an instrumental variables estimation is conducted, using state economic growth in the year the business was set up as an instrument for opportunity, to confirm that opportunity entrepreneurs have higher performance and better management practices. JEL codes: J24, L26, O12 IN T R O D U C T I O NSupport programs for micro-businesses have become increasingly common in developing countries in recent years for at least two reasons: first, micro-enterprises employ a substantial fraction of individuals in these economies (about 47 percent in Mexico); and second, despite their prevalence, the majority of these microenterprises tend to stay small and have low productivity. However, the impact of such programs-many of which provide business grants, training or a combination of both-has been mixed at best. This raises the question about whether
This paper estimates the effect of a generous demogrant for individuals age 70 and older that started in 2001 in Mexico City on the labor supply and time use of beneficiaries and of non-elderly family members who live with them. Using a triple differences approach, I find that the program has no significant effect on the time use of eligible individuals, except for the sharp decrease in the housework participation of elderly women who live with another potential beneficiary. Individuals 60 to 69 years old change their time use only if they live with a potential beneficiary, but not because they expect to receive the demogrant themselves in a few years. In particular, men in their 60s seem to retire early if they live with someone who qualifies for the transfer. Both men and women 18 to 59 years old increase their labor supply if they live with an eligible man, but decrease it if they live with an eligible woman. These results are consistent with income in the hands of elderly women being shared more with younger family members than income in the hands of elderly men.
Entrepreneurs that voluntarily choose to start a business because they are able to identify a good business opportunity and act on it-opportunity entrepreneurs-might be different along various dimensions from those who are forced to become entrepreneurs because of lack of other alternatives-necessity entrepreneurs. To provide evidence on these differences, this article exploits a unique data set covering a wide array of characteristics, including cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, and managerial practices, for a large sample of female entrepreneurs in Mexico. Descriptive results show that on average opportunity entrepreneurs have better performance and higher skills than necessity entrepreneurs. A discriminant analysis reveals that discrimination is difficult to achieve based on these observables, which suggests the existence of unobservables driving both the decision to become an opportunity entrepreneur and performance. Thus, an instrumental variables estimation is conducted, using state economic growth in the year the business was set up as an instrument for opportunity, to confirm that opportunity entrepreneurs have higher performance and better management practices. JEL codes: J24, L26, O12 IN T R O D U C T I O NSupport programs for micro-businesses have become increasingly common in developing countries in recent years for at least two reasons: first, micro-enterprises employ a substantial fraction of individuals in these economies (about 47 percent in Mexico); and second, despite their prevalence, the majority of these microenterprises tend to stay small and have low productivity. However, the impact of such programs-many of which provide business grants, training or a combination of both-has been mixed at best. This raises the question about whether
Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract: This paper studies whether the increase in government transfers, induced by an old-age pension program for individuals age 70 and older in Mexico, affects co-residing children's school enrollment, using a regression discontinuity analysis. Results suggest that while household composition and other household-level characteristics do not change significantly at the cutoff age for program eligibility, co-residing children's school enrollment increases significantly. This suggests that public resources for older adults might generate benefits for other age groups. An additional finding is that the increase in school enrollment takes places mostly at the program eligibility cutoff and not before. Given that the program transfer is known and potentially anticipated by individuals who are only a few years away from being eligible, this suggests that households might have credit constraints. Keywords: Government transfers, school enrollment. JEL Classification: J14, I25 Terms of use: Documents inResumen: Este artículo estudia si el incremento en las transferencias gubernamentales, inducido por un programa de pensiones de vejez para individuos con 70 y más años de edad en México, afecta la inscripción escolar de los niños co-residentes, usando un análisis de regresión discontinua. Los resultados sugieren que mientras la composición y otras características a nivel de hogar no cambian significativamente en la edad de corte para elegibilidad del programa, la inscripción de los niños coresidentes aumenta significativamente. Esto sugiere que los recursos públicos para los adultos mayores podrían generar beneficios para otros grupos de edad. Un resultado adicional es que el aumento en la inscripción escolar tiene lugar mayormente en el corte de elegibilidad y no antes. Dado que la transferencia del programa es conocida y potencialmente anticipada por los individuos que están a sólo unos pocos años de ser elegibles, esto sugiere que los hogares podrían tener restricciones de crédito. Palabras Clave: Transferencias gubernamentales, inscripción escolar. Documento de Investigación
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