Where Do New Firms Come From? Households, Family Capital, Ethnicity, and the Welfare Mix

The creation of new firms is an important economic activity; however, understanding of the actual venture-creation process remains limited. P. Rodriguez, C. S. Tuggle, and S. M. Hackett (2009) address this deficiency by adopting an internal social capital perspective and examining the effects of family financial, social, health, and ethnic contexts on firm creation. This commentary extends their work by reinforcing that households are important units of analysis and are usefully viewed as incubators and opportunity platforms for venture creation. It further suggests that social capital has a nested nature and that households should be viewed as part of the overall welfare mix.