Eponymous Entrepreneurs

Sharon Belenzon, Aaron K. Chatterji and Brendan Daley

American Economic Review, 2017, vol. 107, issue 6, 1638-55

Abstract: We demonstrate that eponymy—firms being named after their owners—is linked to superior firm performance, but is relatively uncommon (about 19 percent of firms in our data). We propose an explanation based on eponymy creating an association between the entrepreneur and her firm that increases the reputational benefits/costs of successful/unsuccessful outcomes. We develop a corresponding signaling model, which further predicts that these effects will be stronger for entrepreneurs with rarer names. We find support for the model's predictions using a unique panel dataset consisting of over 1.8 million firms.

JEL-codes: D82 L25 L26 M13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20141524
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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