Roots and Routes: How Childhood Geographic Mobility Shapes Entrepreneurial Outcomes

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between childhood residential mobility and adult self-employment using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). Drawing on a sample of 7063 individuals observed from childhood to adulthood, the study investigates whether the number of residential moves before the age of 18 predicts later occupational autonomy. Using a logistic regression model, the results indicate that each additional move before age 18 results in an increase in the odds of self-employment by 2%. The analysis also incorporates psychological distress, measured by the K6 scale, showing that higher distress levels are positively related to self-employment entry. Results also document substantial cohort effects that document generational decline in self-employment activity from 35.5% among those in the 1950s to 11.6% among those in the 1990s. Additionally, gender disparities persist, with women exhibiting 50% lower odds of self-employment in comparison to their male counterparts. By embedding entrepreneurial participation within a life-course framework, this thesis advances our understanding of how childhood mobility relates to subsequent occupational autonomy.