A recent paper by Mohsen Mohaghegh of Ohio State University discusses two main trends related to U.S. entrepreneurs: the decrease in the number of entrepreneurs and the increase in their borrowing. Entrepreneurs have increased their debt holdings relative to their assets over the past three decades. Greater opportunities for financing new investments, rising business costs, and modifications to the bankruptcy code are among the different elements influencing the behavior of entrepreneurs. In addition to these factors, the tax treatment of debt financing may also be contributing to how much debt entrepreneurs are willing to take on. Using flow of funds data, Mohaghegh shows that the debt-to-asset ratio of entrepreneurial firms has risen from about 0.23 in 1975 to nearly 0.40 in 2007. This means entrepreneurs are taking on more debt relative to their assets than they were previously. Several things are driving this trend: improved access to loans from lenders, reduced overhead…
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