Can Black Entrepreneurship Reduce Black-White Inequality in the United States?

This paper considers whether Black entrepreneurship in the USA matters for Black-White inequality in well-being as measured by individual happiness. We utilize data from the 2018 General Social Survey on respondent self-reported levels of happiness to estimate fixed group effect logit specifications of self-reported happiness levels as a function of individual characteristics, including being a Black American, and a measure of entrepreneurship—self-employment. Parameter estimates reveal that accounting for self-employment entirely eliminates Black-White happiness inequality. Our results suggest that increasing Black entrepreneurship can reduce Black-White inequality in well-being as measured by happiness.