BPINNOVATE: Impacts of Social Safety Net Policies on STEM Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Underrepresented Populations and Underserved Regions

了解体制环境如何塑造创业和创新活动，对于制定政策以加强企业家和发明家的参与和成功至关重要。然而，令人惊讶的是，人们对社会安全网政策在促进创业和创新方面的作用知之甚少。这尤其令人担忧，因为人们正在讨论关于一系列社会安全网问题的政策辩论，但对这些政策如何影响创业和创新缺乏充分的了解。该项目旨在提供关于社会安全网政策如何影响STEM创业和创新的第一套评估，特别是在美国代表性不足的人口和服务不足的地区。研究结果将向政策制定者和实践者提供实用建议，说明社会安全网福利如何影响对持续全球竞争力至关重要的STEM企业家和发明家的数量和质量，以及它们如何通过创业赋权和包容性影响代表不足的人口和服务不足地区的福祉。提案由三项研究组成，分别审查提供儿童和家庭、健康和教育援助福利的社会安全网计划。每项研究都利用一组准实验来确定一种类型的社会安全网政策对STEM创业参与、创新活动和创新成果的因果影响，这些实验对代表性不足的人群或服务不足的地区特别有意义。此外，还将收集关于各种社会保障网政策如何影响个人偏好和行为的采访和调查数据，以发展关于创业进入和创新能力的微观基础的新理论，这可以推动社会科学中的多方法方法。总体而言，该项目为政府项目和商业战略的设计提供了重要的见解，这些项目将促进包容性经济增长并保持美国在科学和技术方面的竞争力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The understanding of how institutional environments shape entrepreneurial formation and innovation activities is essential to the design of policies that enhance participation and success of entrepreneurs and inventors. However, surprisingly little is known about the role of social safety net policies in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. This is especially concerning, as ongoing policy debates over a range of social safety net issues are being discussed without a solid understanding of how these policies affect entrepreneurship and innovation. This project aims to provide the first set of evaluations of how social safety net policies impact STEM entrepreneurship and innovation, especially in underrepresented populations and underserved regions in the United States. Research results will provide practical advice to policymakers and practitioners regarding how social safety net benefits affect the quantity and quality of STEM entrepreneurs and inventors who are key to sustained global competitiveness, and how they impact the well-being of underrepresented populations and underserved regions through entrepreneurial empowerment and inclusiveness.The proposal consists of three studies that examine social safety net programs providing child and family, health, and educational assistance benefits, respectively. Each study exploits a set of quasi-experiments, which are particularly meaningful for underrepresented populations or underserved regions, to establish the causal effects of one type of social safety net policies on STEM entrepreneurship participation, innovation activities, and innovation outcomes. Additionally, interview and survey data on how various social safety net policies shape individual preferences and behavior will be collected to develop new theories on the micro-foundations of entrepreneurial entry and innovative capability, which can advance the multi-method approach in social sciences. Overall, this project offers important insights into the design of governmental programs and business strategies that would promote inclusive economic growth and maintain U.S. competitiveness in science and technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.