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HEALTH INSURANCE AVAILABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

College of Business Administration, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325, USA

World Economic Forum Global Agenda, Council for Fostering Entrepreneurship Advisor, US National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Los Angeles, CA, USA

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, and

VIVEK WADHWA

Arthur & Toni Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford University, CA, USA

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https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946713500258Cited by:4 (Source: Crossref)

Abstract

Unlike prior studies of the impact of health insurance on entrepreneurship, this paper uses primary data from a representative recent survey of entrepreneurs. First, we report the characteristics and socio-economic backgrounds of entrepreneurs. Second, we document that the lack of health insurance has a significant inhibiting impact on entrepreneurs. This paper also documents that the importance of health insurance availability increases for entrepreneurs who are self-funded, married, have children, are from less privileged backgrounds and are in advanced stages of their lives as indicated by having advanced degrees or long work experience when they become entrepreneurs. These results should be of much interest to scholars, managers and policymakers.

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