Political Entrepreneurs

Apr 7, 2019·
Joyce Ma
Joyce Ma
,
Aaron Chatterji
,
Jorge Guzman
,
Ryan McDevitt
· 1 min read
Image credit: Unsplash
Abstract
How do entrepreneurs shape public policy when they hold political office themselves? We study this question using a novel dataset linking state legislators’ financial disclosures to bill sponsorship across 26 U.S. states from 2009 to 2023. Using bill text, we classify legislation into pro-business and pro-entry categories. Entrepreneurs account for over 40 percent of state legislators. While they do not sponsor more legislation overall or act as generic advocates for business, they are more likely to take the lead in sponsoring bills and selectively advance pro-entry policies, particularly those related to deregulation and innovation. The findings reveal an important channel through which entrepreneurs shape the policy environment from within political institutions.
Type
Status
Open access
Funding
Wellcome Trust (WT-219123/Z/19/Z)
License
CC-BY-4.0
research

This work is driven by the results in my previous paper on LLMs.

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Joyce Ma
Authors
Joyce Ma
PhD Candidate in Strategy

My name is Joyce. My Mandarin name is Heqiao, pronounced “huh-CHEE-ow.” I am a PhD Candidate in Strategy at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

My research lies at the intersection of non-market strategy, entrepreneurship, and innovation. I study how innovative firms and entrepreneurs shape the institutional environment alongside policymakers, how they respond to institutional changes, and how startups and incumbents interact within the innovation ecosystem. My work combines novel data sources with text analysis, machine learning, AI, and causal inference.

Prior to my PhD, I earned a Master’s degree in Economics from Duke University and conducted policy research at a leading think tank in China.

I am on the 2026-2027 academic job market.