Speaker: Bekhzod Khoshimov is a doctoral student at the Wisconsin School of Business. Prior to Ph.D., he did his master’s in Economics at the University of Wisconsin and bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics at Nanyang Technological University.
His research interests include entrepreneurship, human capital and economics of innovation.

Abstract: I investigate whether differences in macroeconomic experiences during formative years of individuals affect business formation rates of individuals throughout their careers. I find that living in an area with high unemployment during an individual’s formative years decreases the propensity of an individual to become an entrepreneur by starting a business during their career. I distinguish between two types of businesses: incorporated and unincorporated. Using panel data, I find that individuals who reside in a region that experiences a larger shock to unemployment during their formative years have a significantly lower propensity to start an incorporated enterprise throughout their entire career. Consistent with the prior literature, I find that experiencing a negative macroeconomic shock during adolescence also significantly increases the risk-aversion of an individual. However, the observed decrease in the propensity of young adults who experienced an economic shock during adolescence is not fully explained by an increase in risk-aversion.