Entrepreneurship among married couples in the United States: A simultaneous probit approach

This article proposes a simultaneous probit equation framework to analyse the business ownership patterns of married couples in the United States. A structural model of knowledge spillovers within couples is formulated and estimated. Empirical analysis reveals significant and substantial positive interdependence of business ownership propensities within couples. This is consistent with a process in which both male and female spouses receive positive knowledge transfers from the other. Conversely, there is less support for alternative explanations of interdependent occupational choices based on assortative mating, role model effects, risk diversification, or intra-household wealth transfers. I conclude that the conventional practice of ignoring occupational interdependence can generate misleading conclusions about the determinants of business ownership in America.