Patriarchal Rent Seeking in Entrepreneurial Households: An Examination of Business Ownership and Housework Burdens in Black and White US Couples

Abstract

This article studies the relationship between unpaid housework and business ownership in the United States. To examine this empirically, it uses Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data from 1985 to 2019 to document patterns in household production among business-owning households, with a special focus on Black and White opposite-sex couples in the United States. Descriptive evidence suggests that in married White couples, husbands face lower housework hours when owning a business compared to those who do not. However, this result does not hold for Black men. In fact, among Black couples, results suggest positive associations between wives’ business ownership and their housework hours. These results suggest the presence of patriarchal social norms allows White entrepreneurial men to extract rents: White men’s entrepreneurship may be propped up by their unique ability to recede from domestic responsibilities, a notion consistent with theories on patriarchal rent seeking. HIGHLIGHTS Among US couples, less time spent on housework may provide advantages for entrepreneurs. White businesses-owning husbands are afforded reduced housework relative to peers. This phenomenon is unique among White men. Black businesses-owning wives do more housework than non-entrepreneuring peers. Industry selection does not explain away this trend among Black women. Race and gender hierarchies allow White men more resources in entrepreneurship. Small-business policymakers should work to alleviate inequities in unpaid work.