Entrepreneurship and the gig economy: Evidence from U.S. tax returns

Matthew Denes, Spyridon Lagaras and Margarita Tsoutsoura

Journal of Financial Economics, 2025, vol. 173, issue C

Abstract: Platform intermediation of goods and services has considerably transformed the U.S. economy. We use administrative data on U.S. tax returns to study the role of the gig economy on entrepreneurship. We find that gig workers are more likely to become entrepreneurs, particularly those who are lower income, younger, and benefit from flexibility. We track all newly created firms and show that gig workers start firms in similar industries as their gig experience, which are less likely to survive and demonstrate higher performance. Overall, our findings suggest on-the-job learning promotes entrepreneurial entry and shifts the types of firms started by entrepreneurs.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Gig economy; Experimentation; Learning; Tax data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:173:y:2025:i:c:s0304405x25001643

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2025.104156

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