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  3. American Economic Review
  4. June 2017
  5. Eponymous Entrepreneurs

Eponymous Entrepreneurs

  • Sharon Belenzon
  • Aaron K. Chatterji
  • Brendan Daley
American Economic Review
vol. 107, no. 6, June 2017
(pp. 1638-55)
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Abstract

We demonstrate that eponymy—firms being named after their owners—is linked to superior firm performance, but is relatively uncommon (about 19 percent of firms in our data). We propose an explanation based on eponymy creating an association between the entrepreneur and her firm that increases the reputational benefits/costs of successful/unsuccessful outcomes. We develop a corresponding signaling model, which further predicts that these effects will be stronger for entrepreneurs with rarer names. We find support for the model's predictions using a unique panel dataset consisting of over 1.8 million firms.

Citation

Belenzon, Sharon, Aaron K. Chatterji, and Brendan Daley. 2017. "Eponymous Entrepreneurs." American Economic Review, 107 (6): 1638-55. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20141524

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
  • L25 Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
  • L26 Entrepreneurship
  • M13 New Firms; Startups