Gross, Net, and New Job Creation by Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Using a dataset with over 24 million observations and the universe of more than 230,000 entries into entrepreneurship we analyze the gross (including the founders), net (excluding the founders), and new (jobs to the former unemployed or those outside the labor force) job creation by entrepreneurs two and six years after start-up. These novel measures of job creation shows that the average entrepreneur does not create any jobs for any other than him/her-self, and typically arrives from having another job. Thus, short term job creation by entrepreneurs involves a reshuffling of jobs from older to new firms rather than creating new jobs.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, job creation, incorporation, occupational choice, self-employment, sole proprietorship

JEL Classification: L26, J24