Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleArticles

How Can Paid Maternity Leave Boost Female Entrepreneurship?

Sébastien Fontenay
Published online before print January 08, 2024, 0123-12727R2; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0123-12727R2
Sébastien Fontenay
Sébastien Fontenay is a MSCA fellow at Universitat Pompeu Fabra and a visiting Professor at Universidad de Alcalá ().
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: [email protected]
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

References

    1. Adda, J.,
    2. Dustmann, C., and
    3. Stevens, K.
    (2017). The career costs of children. Journal of Political Economy, 125(2), 293–337.
    OpenUrl
    1. Albanesi, S.,
    2. Olivetti, C., and
    3. Petrongolo, B.
    (2023). Families, labor markets and policies. In S. Lundberg and A. Voena (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of the family. Elsevier.
    1. Anderson, D. J.,
    2. Binder, M., and
    3. Krause, K.
    (2002). The motherhood wage penalty: Which mothers pay it and why? American Economic Review, 92(2), 354–358.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Ando, M.
    (2017). How much should we trust regression-kink-design estimates? Empirical Economics, 53(3), 1287–1322.
    OpenUrl
    1. Andrew, A.,
    2. Bandiera, O.,
    3. Costa-Dias, M., and
    4. Landais, C.
    (2021). Women and men at work (Tech. Rep.).
    1. Angelov, N.,
    2. Johansson, P., and
    3. Lindahl, E.
    (2016). Parenthood and the gender gap in pay. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(3), 545–579.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Asai, Y.
    (2015). Parental leave reforms and the employment of new mothers: Quasiexperimental evidence from japan. Labour Economics, 36, 72–83.
    OpenUrl
  1. Baggesgaard, Mertz, Ronchi, and Salvestrini. (2021). Early exposure to entrepreneurship and the creation of female entrepreneurs.
    1. Bana, S.,
    2. Bedard, K., and
    3. Rossin-Slater, M.
    (2020). The impacts of paid family leave benefits: Regression kink evidence from california administrative data. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39(4), 888–929.
    OpenUrl
    1. Barber, B. M., and
    2. Odean, T.
    (2001). Boys will be boys: Gender, overconfidence, and common stock investment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(1), 261–292.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Bertrand, M.,
    2. Goldin, C., and
    3. Katz, L. F.
    (2010). Dynamics of the gender gap for young professionals in the financial and corporate sectors. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3), 228–55.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Bertrand, M.,
    2. Kamenica, E., and
    3. Pan, J.
    (2015). Gender identity and relative income within households. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(2), 571–614.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Bittmann, S.
    (2015). Ressources économiques des femmes et travail domestique des conjoints : quels effets pour quelles tâches? Economie et Statistique, 305–338.
    1. Black, S. E., and
    2. Strahan, P. E.
    (2002). Entrepreneurship and bank credit availability. The Journal of Finance, 57(6), 2807–2833.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Blanchflower, D. G., and
    2. Oswald, A. J.
    (1998). What makes an entrepreneur? Journal of Labor Economics, 16(1), 26–60.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Boden, R. J.
    (1999). Flexible working hours, family responsibilities, and female self-employment: Gender differences in self-employment selection. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 58(1), 71–83.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Budig, M. J.
    (2006). Intersections on the road to self-employment: Gender, family and occupational class. Social Forces, 84(4), 2223–2239.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Calonico, S.,
    2. Cattaneo, M. D., and
    3. Titiunik, R.
    (2014). Robust nonparametric confidence intervals for regression-discontinuity designs. Econometrica, 82(6), 2295–2326.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Card, D.,
    2. Johnston, A.,
    3. Leung, P.,
    4. Mas, A., and
    5. Pei, Z.
    (2015a). The effect of unemployment benefits on the duration of unemployment insurance receipt: New evidence from a regression kink design in missouri, 2003-2013. American Economic Review, 105(5), 126–30.
    OpenUrl
    1. Card, D.,
    2. Lee, D. S.,
    3. Pei, Z., and
    4. Weber, A.
    (2015b). Inference on causal effects in a generalized regression kink design. Econometrica, 83(6), 2453–2483.
    OpenUrl
    1. Card, D.,
    2. Lee, D. S.,
    3. Pei, Z., and
    4. Weber, A.
    (2017). Regression kink design: Theory and practice. In Regression discontinuity designs (Vol. 38, p. 341–382). Emerald Publishing Limited.
    OpenUrl
    1. Cattaneo, M. D.,
    2. Jansson, M., and
    3. Ma, X.
    (2018). Manipulation testing based on density discontinuity. The Stata Journal, 18(1), 234–261.
    OpenUrl
    1. Cattaneo, M. D.,
    2. Jansson, M., and
    3. Ma, X.
    (2020). Simple local polynomial density estimators. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 115(531), 1449–1455.
    OpenUrl
    1. Coile, C.,
    2. Duggan, M., and
    3. Guo, A.
    (2021). To work for yourself, for others, or not at all? how disability benefits affect the employment decisions of older veterans. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(3), 686–714.
    OpenUrl
    1. Connelly, R.
    (1992). Self-employment and providing child care. Demography, 29(1), 17–29.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Croson, R., and
    2. Gneezy, U.
    (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 448–74.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Cygan-Rehm, K.
    (2016). Parental leave benefit and differential fertility responses: evidence from a german reform. Journal of Population Economics, 29(1), 73–103.
    OpenUrl
    1. Dahl, G. B.,
    2. Løken, K. V.,
    3. Mogstad, M., and
    4. Salvanes, K. V.
    (2016). What is the case for paid maternity leave? The Review of Economics and Statistics, 98(4), 655–670.
    OpenUrl
    1. Dillon, E. W., and
    2. Stanton, C. T.
    (2017). Self-employment dynamics and the returns to entrepreneurship. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series, No. 23168.
    1. Ekberg, J.,
    2. Eriksson, R., and
    3. Friebel, G.
    (2013). Parental leave — a policy evaluation of the Swedish “daddy-month” reform. Journal of Public Economics, 97(C), 131–143.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
  2. Eurofound. (2014). Working conditions and job quality: Comparing sectors in europe (Tech. Rep.).
  3. European Commission, D. E. S. A. I. (2017). Policy brief on women’s entrepreneurship. OECD Publishing.
    1. Evans, D. S., and
    2. Jovanovic, B.
    (1989). An estimated model of entrepreneurial choice under liquidity constraints. Journal of Political Economy, 97(4), 808–827.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Flèche, S.,
    2. Lepinteur, A., and
    3. Powdthavee, N.
    (2021). The importance of capital in closing the entrepreneurial gender gap: A longitudinal study of lottery wins. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 188, 591–607.
    OpenUrl
    1. Francesconi, M.
    (2002). A joint dynamic model of fertility and work of married women. Journal of Labor Economics, 20(2), 336–380.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Gangl, M., and
    2. Ziefle, A.
    (2009). Motherhood, labor force behavior, and women’s careers: An empirical assessment of the wage penalty for motherhood in britain, germany, and the united states. Demography, 46(2), 341–369.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
    1. Ganong, P., and
    2. Jäger, S.
    (2018). A permutation test for the regression kink design. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 113(522), 494–504.
    OpenUrl
    1. Gelber, A.,
    2. Moore, T. J., and
    3. Strand, A.
    (2017). The effect of disability insurance payments on beneficiaries’ earnings. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 9(3), 229–61.
    OpenUrl
    1. Gelman, A., and
    2. Imbens, G.
    (2019). Why high-order polynomials should not be used in regression discontinuity designs. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 37(3), 447–456.
    OpenUrl
    1. Georgellis, Y., and
    2. Wall, H. J.
    (2005). Gender differences in self-employment. International Review of Applied Economics, 19(3), 321–342.
    OpenUrl
    1. Gerards, R., and
    2. Theunissen, P.
    (2018). Becoming a mompreneur: Parental leave policies and mothers’ propensity for self-employment. Maastricht University, unpublished manuscript.
    1. Ginja, R.,
    2. Jans, J., and
    3. Karimi, A.
    (2020). Parental leave benefits, household labor supply, and children’s long-run outcomes. Journal of Labor Economics, 38(1), 261–320.
    OpenUrl
    1. Goldin, C.
    (2014). A grand gender convergence: Its last chapter. American Economic Review, 104(4), 1091–1119.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Gottlieb, J. D.,
    2. Townsend, R. R., and
    3. Xu, T.
    (2021). Does career risk deter potential entrepreneurs? Review of Financial Studies, Forthcoming.
    1. Guiso, L.,
    2. Sapienza, P., and
    3. Zingales, L.
    (2004). Does local financial development matter?. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119(3), 929–969.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Haapanen, M., and
    2. Tervo, H.
    (2009). Self-employment duration in urban and rural locations. Applied economics, 41(19), 2449–2461.
    OpenUrl
    1. Hamilton, B. H.
    (2000). Does entrepreneurship pay? an empirical analysis of the returns to self-employment. Journal of Political Economy, 108(3), 604–631.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Heim, B. T., and
    2. Lurie, I. Z.
    (2010). The effect of self-employed health insurance subsidies on self-employment. Journal of Public Economics, 94(11), 995–1007.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Hombert, J.,
    2. Schoar, A.,
    3. Sraer, D., and
    4. Thesmar, D.
    (2020). Can unemployment insurance spur entrepreneurial activity? evidence from france. The Journal of Finance, 75(3), 1247–1285.
    OpenUrl
    1. Hotchkiss, J. L.,
    2. Pitts, M. M., and
    3. Walker, M. B.
    (2017). Impact of first birth career interruption on earnings: evidence from administrative data. Applied Economics, 49(35), 3509–3522.
    OpenUrl
    1. Hsieh, C.-T.,
    2. Hurst, E.,
    3. Jones, C. I., and
    4. Klenow, P. J.
    (2019). The allocation of talent and u.s. economic growth. Econometrica, 87(5), 1439–1474.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Imbens, G., and
    2. Kalyanaraman, K.
    (2012). Optimal bandwidth choice for the regression discontinuity estimator. The Review of Economic Studies, 79(3), 933–959.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Imbens, G., and
    2. Lemieux, T.
    (2008). Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice. Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 615–635.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
  4. INAMI. (2007). Statistiques des indemnités - 2007. https://www.riziv.fgov.be/fr/statistiques/indemnites/Pages/default.aspx.
  5. ISSP. (2005). International social survey programme: Work orientations iii - issp 2005. GESIS Datenarchiv.
    1. Kaplan, D. M.
    (2022). sivqr: Smoothed iv quantile regression. Stata Journal, Forthcoming.
    1. Kirkwood, J.
    (2009). Motivational factors in a push-pull theory of entrepreneurship. Gender in Management, 24(5), 346–364.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Kleven, H.,
    2. Landais, C., and
    3. Søgaard, J. E.
    (2019). Children and gender inequality: Evidence from denmark. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(4), 181–209.
    OpenUrl
    1. Kluve, J., and
    2. Schmitz, S.
    (2018). Back to work: Parental benefits and mothers’ labor market outcomes in the medium run. ILR Review, 71(1), 143–173.
    OpenUrl
    1. Kärnä, A.,
    2. Manduchi, A., and
    3. Stephan, A.
    (2021). Distance still matters: Local bank closures and credit availability. International Review of Finance, 21(4), 1503–1510.
    OpenUrl
    1. Lalive, R.,
    2. Schlosser, A.,
    3. Steinhauer, A., and
    4. Zweimüller, J.
    (2014). Parental leave and mothers’ careers: The relative importance of job protection and cash benefits. The Review of Economic Studies, 81(1), 219–265.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Lalive, R., and
    2. Zweimüller, J.
    (2009). How does parental leave affect fertility and return to work? evidence from two natural experiments. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(3), 1363–1402.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Landais, C.
    (2015). Assessing the welfare effects of unemployment benefits using the regression kink design. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7(4), 24378.
    1. Lee, D. S.
    (2009). Training, wages, and sample selection: Estimating sharp bounds on treatment effects. The Review of Economic Studies, 76(3), 1071–1102.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Lee, D. S., and
    2. Lemieux, T.
    (2010). Regression discontinuity designs in economics. Journal of Economic Literature, 48(2), 281–355.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Lim, K., and
    2. Michelmore, K.
    (2018). The eitc and self-employment among married mothers. Labour Economics, 55, 98–115.
    OpenUrl
    1. Lundborg, P.,
    2. Plug, E., and
    3. Rasmussen, A. W.
    (2017). Can women have children and a career? iv evidence from ivf treatments. American Economic Review, 107(6), 1611–37.
    OpenUrl
    1. Macpherson, D. A.
    (1988). Self-employment and married women. Economics Letters, 28(3), 281–284.
    OpenUrl
    1. Malkova, O.
    (2018). Can maternity benefits have long-term effects on childbearing? evidence from soviet russia. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 100(4), 691703.
    1. Markussen, S., and
    2. Røed, K.
    (2017). The gender gap in entrepreneurship – the role of peer effects. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 134, 356–373.
    OpenUrl
    1. McCrary, J.
    (2008). Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test. Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 698–714.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Nguyen, H.-L. Q.
    (2019). Are credit markets still local? evidence from bank branch closings. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(1), 1–32.
    OpenUrl
    1. Niederle, M., and
    2. Vesterlund, L.
    (2007). Do women shy away from competition? do men compete too much?. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3), 1067–1101.
    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
    1. Olivetti, C., and
    2. Petrongolo, B.
    (2017). The economic consequences of family policies: Lessons from a century of legislation in high-income countries. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(1), 205–30.
    OpenUrl
    1. Pailhé, A., and
    2. Solaz, A.
    (2008). Time with children: Do fathers and mothers replace each other when one parent is unemployed? European Journal of Population, 24(2), 211–236.
    OpenUrl
    1. Parker, S. C.
    (2018). The economics of entrepreneurship. Cambridge University Press.
    1. Raute, A.
    (2019). Can financial incentives reduce the baby gap? evidence from a reform in maternity leave benefits. Journal of Public Economics, 169, 203–222.
    OpenUrl
    1. Rocha, V., and
    2. van Praag, M.
    (2020). Mind the gap: The role of gender in entrepreneurial career choice and social influence by founders. Strategic Management Journal, 41(5), 841–866.
    OpenUrl
    1. Rosen, S.
    (1981). The economics of superstars. American Economic Review, 71(5), 845–858.
    OpenUrlWeb of Science
    1. Rossin-Slater, M.
    (2017). Signing up new fathers: Do paternity establishment initiatives increase marriage, parental investment, and child well-being? American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(2), 93–130.
    OpenUrl
    1. Rossin-Slater, M.
    (2018). Maternity and family leave policy. In S. L. Averett, L. M. Argys, and S. D. Hoffman (Eds.), The oxford handbook of women and the economy. Oxford University Press.
    1. Schönberg, U., and
    2. Ludsteck, J.
    (2014). Expansions in maternity leave coverage and mothers’ labor market outcomes after childbirth. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(3), 469–505.
    OpenUrlCrossRef
    1. Semykina, A.
    (2018). Self-employment among women: Do children matter more than we previously thought? Journal of Applied Econometrics, 33(3), 416–434.
    OpenUrl
    1. Stearns, J.
    (2018). The long-run effects of wage replacement and job protection: Evidence from two maternity leave reforms in great britain.
    1. Taylor, M. P.
    (1999). Survival of the fittest? an analysis of self-employment duration in britain. The Economic Journal, 109(454), 140–155.
    OpenUrl
    1. Wellington, A. J.
    (2006). Self-employment: the new solution for balancing family and career? Labour Economics, 13(3), 357–386.
    OpenUrl
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
How Can Paid Maternity Leave Boost Female Entrepreneurship?
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
How Can Paid Maternity Leave Boost Female Entrepreneurship?
Sébastien Fontenay
Journal of Human Resources Jan 2024, 0123-12727R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0123-12727R2

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
How Can Paid Maternity Leave Boost Female Entrepreneurship?
Sébastien Fontenay
Journal of Human Resources Jan 2024, 0123-12727R2; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.0123-12727R2
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Supplemental
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Crossing Borders
  • The Evolution of the Wage Elasticity of Labor Supply over Time
  • The Effects of High School Remediation on Long-Run Educational Attainment
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

Keywords

  • J13
  • J16
  • J22
  • Maternity leave allowance
  • Self-employment
  • Fertility
  • Regression kink
UW Press logo

© 2025 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire