Homeownership and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Commitment and Mortgage Debt

Philippe Bracke, Christian Hilber and Olmo Silva

No 7417, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: We study the link between homeownership and entrepreneurship using a model of occupational choice and housing tenure where homeowners commit a fixed budget to mortgage payments. Our model predicts that: (i) mortgage commitments, by amplifying risk aversion, diminish the likelihood that homeowners start a business; (ii) the negative link between homeownership and entrepreneurship is increasing in mortgage debt; and (iii) the negative relation is more pronounced for entrepreneurs in risky sectors. Exploiting the longitudinal dimension of the British Household Panel Survey to control for unobservables, we test and confirm these predictions. Leveraged home-buyers are 30% less likely to become entrepreneurs.

Keywords: homeownership; entrepreneurship; commitment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 G11 L26 R21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2013-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ent and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - heavily revised version published as 'Mortgage debt and entrepreneurship' in: Journal of Urban Economics, 2018, 103, 52 - 66

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Related works:
Working Paper: Homeownerhip and Entrepreneurship (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7417

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