The Importance of Entrepreneurship for Wealth Concentration
and Mobility
The paper conducts an empirical analysis of the importance
of entrepreneurship for wealth concentration and mobility using data from
the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. The data shows a marked concentration
of wealth in the hands of entrepreneurs which is not merely a consequence
of their higher incomes. The higher saving rates among entrepreneurs
is one of the possible explanations for their higher asset holdings and
this hypothesis is supported by the statistical tests conducted in the
paper. The data also shows that entrepreneurs experience greater upward
mobility in that they have a greater probability of moving to higher wealth
classes and, as for the higher asset holdings, this is not only a consequence
of their higher incomes.