We study the link between homeownership and entrepreneurship by exploiting the longitudinal dimension of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and constructing a detailed monthly-spell dataset that tracks individuals? job history and tenure choice, coupled with other time-varying characteristics. Our fixed-effects estimates show that purchasing a house reduces the likelihood of starting a business by 20-25%. This result is driven by homeowners with mortgages and persists for several years after entering homeownership. The negative link can be rationalized by portfolio considerations: leveraged housing investments crowd out entrepreneurial investments. Alternative explanations based on credit constraints find little support in our data.

---

24 April 2012     Paper Number SERCDP0103

Download PDF - Homeownerhip and Entrepreneurship

This SERC/Urban and Spatial Programme Discussion Paper is published under the centre's Urban programme.