Yep, he did it again. Economics Professor Robert Fairlie received the Bradford-Osborne Research Award for the second year in a row. The award—named after famed Black economists William Bradford, University of Washington professor emeritus of finance, and Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., senior associate dean for external affairs at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management—recognizes the year’s best paper, published in a peer-reviewed journal, on diversity and entrepreneurship.
Fairlie received the award this year for his years-long research on the lack of access to capital for Black-owned startups compared to white-owned startups. Black families are economically disadvantaged at the start, as their median income is $37,000 compared to white families at $63,000. The ratio of median household net worth for Black families to that of white families is 11-to-1, and only 7% of Black families own stocks or mutual funds compared with 23% of white families (U.S. Census Bureau 2016).
When Black entrepreneurs want to access start-up capital, the average level of capital Black entrepreneurs receive is $35,205 compared with $106,720 for white entrepreneurs. In the year the business is founded, Black owners contribute around $19,500 of personal equity compared with around $34,500 for white business owners.
Black entrepreneurs also apply for bank loans less frequently than white entrepreneurs, mainly due to fear of rejection. They are about three times more likely to state that they did not apply for credit when needed for fear of their loan application being denied.
“Racial inequality in business ownership is a huge issue, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to change the perceptions and actual access to cap …
Economics Professor Robert Fairlie takes home the Bradford-Osborne Research Award for the second year in a row – University of California, Santa Cruz
