Can Business Clinics Induce Minority Entrepreneurship?Treatment Effect Estimate from Atlanta and New Orleans

Abstract

This paper  considers whether Business Clinics can  induce entrepreneurial outcomes for underrepresented minority groups.  With survey data on Business Clinic participants in  the metropolitan areas of Atlanta and  New Orleans in the states of Georgia and Louisiana respectively, we deploy a  Rubin Causal Framework, which is based upon David Hume's  second counterfactual  theory of causality, to estimate the  treatment effect of ever having attended a Business Clinic, a measure of possibly  multiple exposure to Business Clinics by individuals, on several entrepreneurial outcomes. Treatment effect covariate matching  parameter estimates reveal that relative to Whites, Business Clinic attendance induce more entrepreneurial outcomes for women and non-white minority groups. Our results suggest that at least in the Southeastern US, Business Clinics may be an effective mechanism to increase entrepreneurship among underrepresented minority groups.

Keywords: Business Clinics, Entrepreneurship, Minority Groups, Treatment Effects