| Abstract: | Is the decision to become and stay self-employed constrained by access to credit? If this is the case, a more unequal wealth distribution will—for empirically observed distributions–imply more self-employed, since the number of people able to provide collateral will be higher. Swedish data between 1920 and 1992 suggest that wealth inequality and the share of self-employed among those working are positively related. The data, therefore, are consistent with the hypothesis that liquidity constraints are binding on the decision to become and stay self-employed. |
