The Affordable Care Act and Entrepreneurship Lock: An Updated Examination of Employer-Based Healthcare’s Effect on Self-employment by Demographic Group

Authors

Sean Ruddy, George Washington UniversityFollow

Abstract

This paper capitalizes on a natural experiment created by differences in Medicaid expansion under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). A difference and difference model comparing states that did and did not expand Medicaid is conducted to investigate if providing an alternative and low-cost source of health insurance affects self-employment rates overall and across different demographic groups. The results suggest that living in a state that expanded Medicaid was associated with a 1.4 percent increase in the likelihood that an individual will be self-employed and that this effect is heterogeneous across different demographics, being largest among African Americans.

Recommended Citation

Ruddy, Sean (2020) "The Affordable Care Act and Entrepreneurship Lock: An Updated Examination of Employer-Based Healthcare’s Effect on Self-employment by Demographic Group," Undergraduate Economic Review: Vol. 17: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol17/iss1/5