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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 106 No. 1 2012

A unified model of entrepreneurship dynamics

Chong Wang1; Neng Wang2,3; Jinqiang Yang4

1 Naval Postgraduate School · 2 National Bureau of Economic Research · 3 Columbia University · 4 Shanghai University of Finance and Economics

Abstract

We develop an incomplete-markets q-theoretic model to study entrepreneurship dynamics. Precautionary motive, borrowing constraints, and capital illiquidity lead to underinvestment, conservative debt use, under-consumption, and less risky portfolio allocation. The endogenous liquid wealth-illiquid capital ratio w measures time-varying financial constraint. The option to accumulate wealth before entry is critical for entrepreneurship. Flexible exit option is important for risk management purposes. Investment increases and the private marginal value of liquidity decreases as w decreases and exit becomes more likely, contrary to predictions of standard financial constraint models. We show that the idiosyncratic risk premium is quantitatively significant, especially for low w.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2012.05.002
Volume
106
Issue
1
Pages
1-23
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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