Regulations and the Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

In this study, we examine whether different types of regulations affect the composition of small business owners in U.S. states. We employ a national survey titled the “United States Small Business Friendliness Survey”. This survey asks small business owners their opinions on different types of regulations (i.e. “health and safety regulations”, “employment regulations”, “tax code”, “licensing regulations”, “environmental regulations”, and “zoning regulations”). The survey also asks business owners questions on their own characteristics like “position in the firm”, “previous entrepreneurial experience”, “gender”, “age”, “political view”, “education level”, and “race”. Our results show that each regulation category affects almost all categories of owner characteristics. The exceptions are the following: “Health and safety regulations” do not affect position in the firm, “employment regulations” do not affect gender and age, “tax code” does not affect position in the firm and age, “licensing regulations” and “environmental regulations” do not affect position in the firm and gender, and “zoning regulations” do not affect position in the firm, previous experience, and gender. “Health and safety regulations” affect gender, age, political view, education level, and race. “Employment regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, political view, education level, and race. “Tax code” affects previous entrepreneurial experience, gender, political view, education level, and race. “Licensing regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, age, political view, education level, and race. “Environmental regulations” affect previous entrepreneurial experience, age, political view, education level, and race. “Zoning regulations” affect age, political view, education level, and race. Overall, our findings indicate that regulations affect the geographical choice of entrepreneurs. The states with a more favorable score in a certain area of regulation attract a certain group of entrepreneurs. Policymakers should consider these findings when devising their strategies to attract certain types of entrepreneurs to their states.