Essays on Occupational Choice and Entrepreneurial Ventures

This dissertation consists of three independent articles on the subjects of entrepreneurial ventures and occupational choice. The first article examines the flow of information between entrepreneurs and investors in a theoretical venture capital market, analyzing how informational asymmetries and evaluative bias affect equilibrium fundraising, investment, and implementation strategies. The second article investigates the gender income differential using a model of occupational choice, maternity choice, and the ability to stochastically wage climb. The third article theoretically examines the location choice and endogenous growth dynamics of television productions facing labor supplies that are heterogeneous in skill level. Location choice is influenced by tax considerations, as well as the regional accessibility of talent; the model is used to explain why studios and producers have begun shifting television production outside of Hollywood despite the high concentration of production talent in Los Angeles.