Three essays on entrepreneurial quality

Abstract

This dissertation introduces a new method to measure entrepreneurial quality and applies it to three questions of theoretical interest in entrepreneurship. The dissertation is presented in five chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter. It overviews the entrepreneurial quality approach, indicates the key choices made in this dissertation, and explains how researchers can build on this approach for their own applications. Chapters 2 through 4 are specific research applications. Chapter 2 uses this approach to measure the "state of American entrepreneurship" once quality is included. Chapter 3 studies differences in the quality of entrepreneurship by gender and the gender gap in VC financing conditional on quality. Chapter 4 looks at entrepreneurial migration and the quantity and quality of migrants in high growth entrepreneurship across regions. Chapter 5 provides a short conclusion. Extended abstracts are provided at the beginning of each chapter.