What does this research mean for the field?

Republicans are more likely to start firms than Democrats, and this partisan entrepreneurship gap fluctuates based on the political party in power, with individuals increasing entrepreneurship during administrations aligned with their own party. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

This research examines how political affiliation influences entrepreneurial activity among Americans.

May 10, 2026The Journal of Finance0 citationsOpen Access

Partisan Entrepreneurship

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JEJOSEPH ENGELBERG JGJorge Guzmán RLRunjing Lu

Key Points

This research examines how political affiliation influences entrepreneurial activity among Americans.
Analyzed data from 40 million party-identified Americans between 2005 and 2017.
Calculated entrepreneurship rates for Republicans and Democrats.
Investigated changes in entrepreneurial patterns around presidential elections.
5.5% of Republicans became entrepreneurs compared to 3.7% of Democrats.
Republican entrepreneurship increased during Republican administrations and decreased during Democratic ones.
Estimated 170,000 firms were added or reallocated due to partisan shifts over the study period.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Republicans start more firms than Democrats. In a sample of 40 million party‐identified Americans between 2005 and 2017, we find that 5.5% of Republicans and 3.7% of Democrats become entrepreneurs. This partisan entrepreneurship gap is time‐varying—Republicans increase their relative entrepreneurship during Republican administrations and decrease it during Democratic administrations, amounting to a partisan reallocation of 170,000 new firms over our 13‐year sample. We find sharp changes in partisan entrepreneurship around the elections of President Obama and President Trump, with the strongest effects among the most politically active partisans: those that donate and vote.

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Cite This Study

ENGELBERG et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0020cec8f74e3340f9b940 https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.70042

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May 10, 2026The Journal of Finance0 citationsOpen Access

Partisan Entrepreneurship

View Full Paper

JEJOSEPH ENGELBERG JGJorge Guzmán RLRunjing Lu

Key Points

This research examines how political affiliation influences entrepreneurial activity among Americans.
Analyzed data from 40 million party-identified Americans between 2005 and 2017.
Calculated entrepreneurship rates for Republicans and Democrats.
Investigated changes in entrepreneurial patterns around presidential elections.
5.5% of Republicans became entrepreneurs compared to 3.7% of Democrats.
Republican entrepreneurship increased during Republican administrations and decreased during Democratic ones.
Estimated 170,000 firms were added or reallocated due to partisan shifts over the study period.

Abstract

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Cite This Study

ENGELBERG et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a0020cec8f74e3340f9b940 https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.70042

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