Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
We study the relationship between family and entrepreneurship decisions. Family influences entrepreneurship decisions via two channels: (i) Spouses work more in case of business failure and (ii) children increase the cost of failure. We use administrative matched owner–employer–employee–spouse data to estimate the predictions derived from our model. We find evidence that marriage decreases entry into entrepreneurship and increases average firm size, consistent with mechanism (ii) dominating the (i). Using direct information on children, we find that more children decrease entry into entrepreneurship and increase average firm size.