Mountain Scholar :: Browsing by Author "Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member"

Browsing by Author "Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member"

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A study of light in a small town
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Cotten-Potter, Cory, author; Doenges, Judy, advisor; Altschul, Andrew, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
This collection of work contains stories that explore the relationships that individuals have to their familial and cultural pasts. They ask what it means to embrace tradition or eschew heritage, and how to honor family connection or romantic love in a societal landscape that is often under threat. The stories are populated by the surreal and the supernatural, agents that act both with and against these characters as they attempt to articulate to themselves a system for coping with the chaos that surrounds them.
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City of mosques: a collection of short stories
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Alam, Shoaib, author; Becker, Leslee, advisor; Levy, E. J., committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
A collection of short stories exploring lives that begin or take root in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. One of the major metropolises of the modern world, Dhaka is known in Bengal as the City of Mosques for its confluence of religion and culture, of past and present.
Open Access
Determinants of small business lending
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Kravchenko, Nataliia, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Villupuram, Sriram, committee member
The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that drive banks' decisions to provide loans to small informationally opaque enterprises. This paper combines three important aspects related to small business lending - asymmetry of information, bank efficiency, and regional economic performance - and hopes to establish the complex ties between them and understand how banks can use the information available for the benefit of SMEs, and ultimately regional growth.
Open Access
Economic efficiency of US 2007 heavy-duty diesel emission standards: a lifecycle-based approach
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Anderson, Aaron, author; Kling, Robert W., advisor; Willson, Bryan D., committee member; Iverson, Terrence W., committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
A new method of evaluating vehicle emission standards is developed and applied to US 2007 heavy-duty diesel emission standards. The method is closely related to lifecycle analyses because it relies on the calculation of lifecycle costs of a single vehicle meeting the new standards, as well as the lifecycle costs of a vehicle compliant with previous standards. This allows the calculation of a per-vehicle net benefit, which is then, along with forecasted vehicle sales, used to estimate the total net benefit of the standards imposed over some period of years. There are multiple advantages to the approach developed here relative to that used by the EPA. Primarily, it allows a comparison of benefits and costs that occur across different periods of time, it relies on marginal damage estimates from the peer-reviewed literature, and it is easily adaptable to different emission standards. In contrast to the result of the EPA analysis, it is found that the net benefit of the standards is negative.
Open Access
Entrepreneurship by gender: characteristics, financing, and growth
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Conroy, Tessa, author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Mushinski, David, committee member; Thilmany, Dawn, committee member
Women own less than one-third of firms in the United States, despite comprising nearly half of the labor force. The gender gap holds in most local areas, but analysis by county shows that there is significant variation in male- and female- business ownership across space. Though previous studies link entrepreneurial activity to several important regional characteristics, none consider how the impact of these characteristics, particularly the availability small business financing, might vary between men and women. Further, there has been little consideration for separate impacts of male- and female-owned firms on economic growth. Chapter one identifies the determinants of growth in the propensity for male- and female-owned firms and considers the relative importance of endowment and behavioral differences in explaining the gender gap in business ownership. The results indicate that there are significant endowment and behavioral differences between the male and female populations, particularly with regard to human capital accumulation. Human capital accumulation at the bachelor's degree level increases the propensity for male-owned firms, but the relationship between human capital accumulation and the propensity for female-owned firms forms an inverted "U." Counties with large shares of females at very low and very high education attainment have lower growth in the propensity for female-owned firms, and growth is highest in counties with a large share of female college graduates. Family structure is also a significant factor, shown by the negative effect of the number of children per adult, which is much stronger for males. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition demonstrates that though the effect of endowment differences is larger in absolute value, the behavioral differences captured by the coefficient effect, are key to alleviating the gender disparity in business ownership. Chapter two analyzes the impact of male- and female-owned firms on economic performance. The results show that counties with higher initial densities of male- and female-owned firms, generally have lower subsequent employment growth. More detailed analysis by employment status shows that male-owned employer firms have the strongest relationship to economic growth compared to female-owned employer firms and non-employer firms owned by either gender. Instrumental variable analysis using the historical mining industry addresses the potential endogeneity created by including births in the empirical model of employment growth. Chapter three focuses on capital as an especially important input to entrepreneurship, and ultimately, to economic growth. So far as bank loans are critical to the start-up, survival, and expansion of establishments, it is reasonable to expect spatial linkages between lending and establishment births as well as between lending and economic performance. This study examines the effect of small business loans based on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) data and applies an instrumental variable strategy using money demand shocks to address potential endogeneity between lending and establishment births. Using an economic growth framework and cross-sectional empirical model for U.S. counties, we test the hypotheses that the establishment birth rate, employment growth, and our measure of entrepreneurship for each gender is higher in counties where bank financing is more available, controlling for community-level characteristics affecting business and economic dynamics. We also consider the long-term effect of small business lending and focus on establishing the appropriate lag structure. The results indicate that lending has a significant and positive effect on births that is strongest in rural and micropolitan counties. Second, increases in lending appear to have a weakly negative effect on employment growth. There is no effect of lending on entrepreneurship for either gender.
Open Access
Essays on the role of microfinance institutions in financial deepening, economic growth and development
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Ocasio, Vange Mariet, author; Braunstein, Elissa, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Vasudevan, Ramaa, committee member; Schwebach, Robert G., committee member; Shaffer, Sherrill, committee member
To view the abstract, please see the full text of the document.
Open Access
Essays on trade liberalization and the environment
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Dinh, Minh, author; Kling, Robert, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Mushinski, David, committee member; Kroll, Stephen, committee member
This dissertation explores the relationship between trade liberalization and the environment in several aspects. Chapter 2 first examines the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve for carbon dioxide emissions, in Vietnam and four other Southeast Asian countries: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. Then we include trade liberalization in the Environmental Kuznets Curve and investigate its determinants to further investigate the environmental impact of trade liberalization. We find evidence of a monotonically increasing linear relationship between per capita GDP and per capita carbon dioxide emissions for these five Southeast Asian countries in the period 1986-2010. The evidence supports the Pollution Haven Hypothesis that freer trade affects negatively the environment. Chapter 3 considers the issue of revealed comparative advantage in manufacturing industries in Vietnam, to examine whether Vietnam has become a "pollution haven" for pollution intensive industries as a result of the gap in environmental regulations between developed and developing countries. Then we examine how environmental stringency and factor intensities affect cross-industry trade specialization in Vietnam within a Heckscher-Ohlin framework. Our finding shows that serious environmental regulations have a negative impact on trade performance. Finally, Chapter 4 measures the pollution embodied in exports, the pollution embodied in imports, and the pollution content of Vietnam's international trade (for three air pollutants C02, SO2, NOx) in 2007 and 2012, using an Environmental Input-Output Analysis. Under the assumption of identical technology, the results show that Vietnam gained "environmentally" from trade liberalization and expansion as of 2007, and gradually became the "pollution haven" as of 2012. The dissertation concludes with chapter 5.
Open Access
Estimating the economic impacts of bird and rodent damage to selected California crops
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Gebhardt, Karen Susan Ilse, author; Fan, Chuen-mei, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Mushinski, David, committee member; Thilmany, Dawn, committee member
This research estimates the direct financial costs and the changes in economic welfare associated with bird and rodent damage to 15 different crop markets in eight agricultural regions in California. Three different models are used to quantify this impact: a meta-analysis to aggregate and analysis a large database of 206 damage estimates from 43 studies related to 15 crops across 6 (of 8) regions of California, a direct financial cost model to identify changes in profits and costs from an individual producer's perspective, and a combination of an equilibrium displacement model (EDM) and an economic surplus model to estimate changes to producer and consumer surpluses. Using a range of damage estimates calculated from the meta-analysis, results from the direct financial analysis indicate that birds and rodents have a direct financial impact in reducing income from lower production and increasing production costs and was calculated as a range from $1,153 m to $1,726 m. Results from the EDM and economic surplus model are the estimated gain in consumer surplus resulting from an absence of bird and rodent damage and a reduction is between $689.6 m and $$1,148.5 m and the estimated gain in producer surplus is between $396.0 m and $658.8 m. Understanding the aggregate impact of damage caused by birds and rodents to multiple economically important crops in California agriculture is crucial. The results of this study indicate that bird and rodent have caused negative impacts on California producers and consumers. Through the inclusion of a more complete damage data set, the impact of this damage on profits and consumer and producer surpluses was estimated with greater accuracy and yielded predictive and interpretive value to the profession.
Open Access
Factors predicting acceptability of toxicant usage to control feral swine
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) DeGroot, Samantha L., author; Bright, Alan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Jones, Kelly, committee member; Shwiff, Stephanie, committee member
The population increase and spread of feral swine across the United States is of increasing concern to producers, land managers, the common public, and government. Feral swine carry harmful diseases, cause extensive damage to property, and are opportunistic omnivores that will eat anything. This study explores how mass media coverage and aspects of the cognitive hierarchy influence the specific lethal management action of a toxicant usage to control feral swine. A content media analysis was conducted to observe how the media portrays the toxicant Kaput across different time periods and news platforms. Statistical analysis revealed that a little over half of the articles were published following four major events which included, a) approval of 'Kaput' as a state-limited-use pesticide in Texas b) restraining order against the use of 'Kaput' c) the passing of a bill requiring strict scientific study of any further toxicant before release in Texas, and d) the withdrawal of 'Kaput' in the state of Texas. An additional analysis revealed the most discussed themes within the articles including a) the use of a toxicant as a management tool to control feral swine b) the mention of the toxicant containing a Warfarin base, and c) challenges regarding the toxicant as being species-specific. The majority of these articles were either negative or neutral, mostly describing the toxicant and then explaining the faults in its use. This resulted in the toxicant being pulled off of the market. In addition to the content media analysis, a wildlife survey was mailed out to 200 urban residents and 200 rural residents from each of the 50 United States to measure individuals' wildlife value orientations, general beliefs toward feral swine, and their support or opposition of the use of poison to kill feral swine. The overall response rate was 11%. Statistical analysis revealed that negative attitudes toward feral swine and a domination wildlife value orientation were key identifiers of support for a toxicant lethal management action of feral swine (p < .05). The opposite was determined with a non-significant value for a mutualism value orientation, opposing the use of a toxicant. As wildlife managers and government agencies continue efforts to mitigate damages and manage feral swine, the value orientations and attitudes of the public should be taken into consideration. The lethal management action chosen should reflect the public's value orientations and attitudes to have an accepted management technique suitable to control feral swine as well as support the public.
Open Access
Factors predicting feral swine management preferences and willingness to pay
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Harper, Erin E., author; Bright, Alan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Shwiff, Stephanie, committee member; Teel, Tara, committee member
The population increase and spread of feral swine across the United States is of increasing concern to agricultural producers, land managers, and government. Feral swine cause extensive damage to property, carry several diseases, and are generalist that will eat anything. This study explores how aspects of the cognitive hierarchy and demographics influence management preferences and willingness to pay for management. Extension offices at Land-Grant Universities participated in a survey of limited resource farmers. The overall response rate for the offices that were able to provide such information was 46%. Statistical analysis revealed that a domination wildlife value orientation, negative attitudes toward feral swine, and income had an effect on respondents' support for all five management actions (hunting, hunting with the assistance of dogs, aerial sharpshooting, trapping and removing, and the use of poison) inquired about (p < .05). A mutualism wildlife value orientation and gender had an effect for two of the management actions (p < .05) and age had no effect on any actions. The amount farmers were willing pay for feral swine management on their lands was analyzed for two groups of farmers; those who had feral swine on their land and did not want them and those who did not have feral swine and wanted to continue to have none. Those with feral swine on their land were more willing to pay to manage feral swine. The amount farmers were willing to pay for both groups was influenced by gender, a negative attitude toward feral swine, and a domination wildlife value orientation. A mutualism wildlife value orientation also had an influence; however, income and age did not. As landowners and government agencies continue efforts to manage feral swine and mitigate the damages they cause the preferences of the landowners should be taken into account. The management actions chosen should reflect the actions supported by farmers in conjunction with cost considerations. If farmers are unwilling or unable to pay for management, then less costly yet also supported management strategies will need to be formulated.
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Have mercy
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Shields, Bruce, author; Doenges, Judy, advisor; Becker, Leslee, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
The title of the following collection, "Have Mercy," comes from the final story, which shares the same title. The characters in the pages that follow share a common thread; they are trying to determine what it means to be deserving of mercy, of grace, and of understanding. Many characters sense that the relationships with those they love have been damaged. Some of these characters have caused that damage themselves. Some have done so deliberately. Despite this, they feel it is imperative that they mitigate the disrepair in their relationships by negotiating terms that they can live with.
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I think we're alone now: stories
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Moore, Dan, author; Doenges, Judy, advisor; Schwartz, Steven, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
I Think We're Alone Now is eight stories about how hard it is to talk to other people at furry conventions, and on computers, and over the phone, and in public, and in private, and in ancient Phoenicia. They're about how that difficulty drives us to quiet, and glibness, and cynicism, and saying things we don't mean. They're also about what we really want to talk about, and can't. The history of fiction is a history of people trying to say very important, ineffable things to each other, and lacking the words to do it. After sincerity, hidden inside little cultural grottos they can't explain to anyone else, these people are trying to gather up the inconsequential-seeming, perpetually half-ironized materials of their lives into something they can give to someone else.
Open Access
Measuring values for environmental public goods: incorporating gender and ethnic social effects into stated-preference value-elicitation methods
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Jones Ritten, Chian, author; Kling, Robert W., advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Tavani, Daniele, committee member; Loomis, John B., committee member
This dissertation explores the theory and seemingly paradoxical results between the economic literatures of contingent valuation method and risk aversion and the interdisciplinary literature of perceptions of risk, specifically with regard to race and gender effects. While a review of the contingent valuation literature shows no systematic gender or race differences in willingness to pay to reduce risks associated with nonmarket goods and services, the risk aversion literature finds systematic gender and race differences in levels of aversion to risks. Women are found to be more risk averse than men and Blacks and Hispanics less risk averse than whites. It is hypothesized that an individual measure of willingness to pay to reduce risks associated with nonmarket goods should be directly related to individual levels of risk aversion and consistent with individual perception of risk. The results from the risk perception literature also find systematic gender and race differences. These results are consistent with the risk aversion literature for gender effects, but inconsistent for Blacks and Hispanics who are found to perceive more risks than whites. To explore this inconsistency, a theoretical model is constructed that connects the contingent valuation theory to that of risk aversion and perceptions of risk. Insights from the risk perception literature are used to create a model of absolute risk aversion in order to make a tractable connection to risk aversion and stated valuation in CVM. Data from a previously collected dataset by Loomis et al (2009) is fit to the model. The results reinforce the inconsistency found between the risk perception and contingent valuation literatures and indicate a possible shortcoming of traditional methodology used by contingent valuation studies and the need for use of proper payment vehicles. The existence of social preferences has been well established in the experimental literature and is formally modeled in this dissertation by incorporating influences of self-interest, altruism, reciprocity, fairness, and commitment in the context of stated willingness to pay in contingent valuation methodology. The models suggest that the existence of social preferences may explain some of the inconsistency between the relevant literatures. A dichotomous choice stated valuation study of various vaccination programs was conducted among college students at Colorado State University. The finding indicate gender differences in willingness to pay for vaccination programs and that the payment vehicle may have substantial effects on valuation. The inclusion of social preferences is a substantial improvement to modeling of valuation and when not included, may lead to underspecified models that ignore existing gender effects.
Open Access
Sanctions: protectionism, environment, and macro-level impacts
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Bramblett, Russell, author; Vasudevan, Ramaa, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Braunstein, Elissa, committee member; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member
Are Sanctions Motivated by Protectionism: This paper attempts to answer the question, "are sanctions the U.S. imposes on foreign countries motivated by trade protectionism"? Using sanctions votes in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005-2015 and industry data within a given Congressional District, the empirical analysis indicates that with some types of sanctions bills and certain industries, Representatives' votes may be affected by the prevalence of industries within their district. The Necessary Conditions for Environmental Sanctions: Drawing from current environmental economics literature, this paper looks at the necessary conditions for carbon abatement and models the path to optimal carbon abatement using a country-level welfare-maximization model to illustrate the effects of pollution awareness on consumption optimization. This paper finds that social marketing is necessary for a country to increase its welfare by imposing environmental sanctions. A Time-Series Analysis of U.S. Sanctions Imposed from 1990 to 2015: Using time-series analysis and forecasting, this paper assesses the effects of sanctions using a dataset of U.S. imposed sanctions from 1990-2015. The analysis indicates that, 1. GDP is a good predictor of development assistance after a sanction, 2. export dependence is a good predictor of military expenditures after a sanction, and 3. contrary to previous research, constrained democracies are affected more by sanctions than pure democracies.
Open Access
Socioeconomics of modern-day migration within the United States: determinants and economic implications across race and ethnicity
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Duca, Bryanna, author; Pena, Anita Alves, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Weiler, Stephan, committee member; Kim, Joon K., committee member
There have been, and continue to be, inequalities based on race, ethnicity, and gender. This dissertation explores the racial and ethnic gaps in internal migration within the U.S. in addition to wage outcomes as a result of these differences in internal migration decisions. It provides an overview of economic and sociology literature in addition to historical findings in order to further analyze differences in behaviors by race and ethnicity. Chapters 2 and 3 will explore how the determinants of internal migration and location characteristics differ between Black non-Hispanics, White non-Hispanics, and Hispanics using micro-level restricted-use American Community Survey (ACS) data. These chapters extend the discussion of internal migration by not only observing the relationship between economic and noneconomic factors with the propensity to migrate, but how the relationship differs across race and ethnicity within smaller geographies than have been explored in previous literature. Using the same data, the fourth chapter explores the relationship between the propensity to move or migrate and wages, in turn providing an additional explanation to the racial and ethnic wage gap.
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Some dark matter
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Martinez, Susan Rebecca, author; Cooperman, Matthew, advisor; Steensen, Sasha, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
This book of poems is characterized by postmodern lyric, experimentation and exploration of forms, and a braided, if at times frayed, narrative. Some Dark Matter has as its subjects: violence against women and global violence, dark and atomic matter, and the archetypical narrative structure of 'overcoming the monster.' It exists within the period of rebuilding after trauma, as eight female characters look to each other for support after rape, abuse, periodic substance abuse, self harm and mental illness. It pulls dark matter and atomic matter, especially the formation of the atomic bomb during the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico, into the braid, investigating the nature and forms of violence, matter, and the violence of matter. Formally, the poems manifest across a wide spectrum (as do methods for recovery from trauma), from received forms such as the sonnet, sestina, and pantoum to free verse, procedural, litany, and epistolary forms. Movements from 'victim' to 'survivor', from 'home violence' to 'global violence,' and from 'hero' to 'villain' are the primary explorations of this book.
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The disciple of because and other stories
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2004) Backens, Nicole, author; Doenges, Judy, advisor; Becker, Leslee, committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
These six stories explore common notions of polite behavior, particularly social expectations in the Midwest. Here, women (and one man) of various ages feel pigeonholed into a set of anticipated actions that feel, ultimately, false. When faced with the crisis of choice, many of these characters sense a distinct tension between their own emotions and impulses and the decisions that are expected of them by their families and peers. These people—from an adolescent girl to an old woman to a teenaged boy—handle these crises in different ways, sometimes by defying convention, and at other times by approaching traditional roles with an almost frenzied, panicked enthusiasm, thereby reinventing such roles in often surprising ways.
Open Access
The Fairtrade Access Fund: does linking ethical investment with Fairtrade certification enhance credit outcomes for small farmers?
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Weeks, Nefratiri, author; Raynolds, Laura, advisor; Lacy, Michael G., committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
The Fairtrade Access Fund is a new ethical investment fund established to work with smallholder farmer cooperatives certified or becoming certified by Fairtrade International. How does the Fairtrade Access Fund fit in with current financing schemes in the developing world? Does the Fairtrade Access Fund's connection with Fairtrade International certification and ethical finance standards enhance the important positive aspects of credit access for smallholder farmers? Does the connection with Fairtrade Standards mitigate the potential risks inherent in debt finance? My study employs an economic sociology and political economy theoretical framework. It traces the certification requirements of Fairtrade International and analyzes how they intersect with the key institutions of ethical finance in order to answer the main research questions. The research includes information on both investors and recipients of the Fairtrade Access Fund and evaluates whether the fund differs from current forms of finance already available to some smallholder farmers. In sum, my findings indicate that linking ethical finance with Fairtrade certification schemes does enhance credit outcomes for smallholder farmers. Further, Fairtrade certification works as an important mechanism of risk management for ethical lending institutions.
Open Access
The rental next door: the impact of rental proximity on home values
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Usrey, Wendy, author; Shields, Martin, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Loomis, John, committee member
Literature in this area mainly focuses on the impacts of multi-unit complexes and low income housing. Little has been done specifically looking at the relationship between single-family rental homes and sales price. This paper extends the literature by modeling the impact of single-family rental proximity on home sales price using a unique spatial approach. Through the use of GIS software, I was able to specifically measure the density of single-family rental properties for each sold home, rather than following the "blanket approach" of measuring density as the `percent of rentals in the census tract' typical in the literature. With data collected for 2,766 homes sold between January 1, 2011 and July 1, 2012 in Fort Collins, Colorado, a hedonic price model was used to empirically test for the impacts of rental proximity on home values. I find strong evidence that proximity to single-family rental homes plays an important role in determining a home's selling price. Rentals within ¼ mile of a sold home had a negative impact on price, while rentals between ¼ and ½ mile had a positive impact on price. If rentals are considered an alternative to foreclosure or short sale, these results suggest the negative impacts of distressed sales are greater than those of rental properties on surrounding home values. Further research is needed to test for this scenario. Policy implications are discussed with a particular focus on the Three Unrelated Ordinance in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Open Access
Three essays in regional growth, distribution, and resilience
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Kacher, Nicholas J., author; Weiler, Stephan, advisor; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member; Shields, Martin, committee member; Thilmany, Dawn, committee member
This work delves into two significant but less understood topics in regional labor economics. The first contribution is to growing literature examining the effects of business dynamism on regional resilience. Significant attention has, understandably, been paid to understanding why the impact of and recovery from the 2008 recession has varied across regions. Chapters 1 and 2 extend to the question of regional resilience a hypothesis that gross rates of local establishment openings, or "churn," may affect local economic performance over a business cycle. In the US, higher-churn areas are found to experience faster average employment growth over the decade spanning the recession, but with more cyclical volatility. Churn is not positively correlated with median household income growth or poverty reduction at a county level. A novel cross-country analysis reveals that in the UK, local authorities with higher churn prior to the recession did weather the financial crisis slightly better, although data limitations restrict the direct comparability between the US and UK cases. Chapter 3 turns to the growth of self-employment in the US, motivated by two observations: first, that growth in the self-employment share has been regionally heterogeneous; and second, that theory suggests workers in wage-and-salary occupations exert limited agency over their working hours. This paper investigates whether average local working hours influence subsequent changes in the county self-employment share. I find a U-shaped relationship between working hours and self-employment growth: counties with working hours furthest from the mean experienced the fastest growth in local self-employment share, adding a new wrinkle to the running debate over whether the "gig economy" is driven by opportunity or necessity.