How Do Cash Windfalls Affect Entrepreneurship? Evidence from the Spanish Christmas Lottery

We show cash windfalls affect the real economy by spurring entrepreneurship. We identify these effects using the Spanish Christmas Lottery, which provides a unique setting as prizes are geographically concentrated and distributed among thousands of households. We find higher start-up entry, job crea...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Bermejo, Vicente J., Ferreira, Miguel, Wolfenzon, Daniel, Zambrana, Rafael
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:20.500.14342/4901
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/4901
http://doi.org/10.1017/S0022109024000371
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Lottery
Descripción
Sumario:We show cash windfalls affect the real economy by spurring entrepreneurship. We identify these effects using the Spanish Christmas Lottery, which provides a unique setting as prizes are geographically concentrated and distributed among thousands of households. We find higher start-up entry, job creation, and self-employment in winning regions. Consistent with a financial constraints channel, results are strongest in sectors relying on external finance and regions with limited credit access. Newly created firms are larger, more profitable, and survive longer. For existing firms, however, growth and profitability do not respond to lottery awards, but wages increase due to tighter labor markets.