Economics Seminar | Rural Entrepreneurship Following Local Economic Shocks, Nov. 20

The Economics Seminar Series presents Dr. Christelle Khalaf discussing "Rural Entrepreneurship Following Local Economic Shocks"on Friday, Nov. 20, from 3 to 4:15 p.m.

Khalaf is an economist with the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University.

For more information about the Economics Seminars, contact Dr. Roberto Duncan .

Abstract : Conceptually, there is an agreement in the literature that opportunity entrepreneurship is generally pro-cyclical, whereas necessity entrepreneurship is strongly counter cyclical (Fairlie and Fossen 2019). While there is less consensus around the exact empirical definition of types of entrepreneurs, opportunity entrepreneurs are generally thought of as those pulled into self-employment by the lure of their business idea, while necessity entrepreneurs are those that are pushed into self-employment by the lack of other employment options. Given the lack of research on these push and pull dynamics in rural areas, this paper examines how entrepreneurship responds to changes in local labor market conditions by exploiting the prevalence of mass layoffs and plant closings, documented in Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, across industries and counties in Ohio from 2010 to 2017. While some scholars have presented evidence that promoting entrepreneurship in rural areas leads to income growth (Stephens and Partridge 2011), others emphasize that the self-employed in rural areas are worse off than salary earners (Shane 2009). A better understanding of the type of entrepreneurs in rural areas can inform economic development policies aimed at helping rural entrepreneurs and enhancing rural economies.