I study how entrepreneurship shapes social and economic mobility. I examine when entrepreneurship improves people’s lives, when it reproduces inequality, and how policies and culture influence those outcomes.
My focus is on entrepreneurship as a career, particularly the most common types of ventures: small businesses, family firms, and self-employed workers.
This work has taken me to a range of settings:
- SMEs and street vendors in Mexico
- Family firms in Jordan
- Romani entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic
- Self-employed women in Utah
Peer-reviewed
Raines, Grady, Peter Polhill, Shon Hiatt, and Ryan Coles (2024). Cultural Norms and the Gendered Impact of Entrepreneurship Policy in Mexico. Administrative Science Quarterly, 69(4), 1006–1043.
Coles, Ryan, Shon Hiatt, Grady Raines, and Wesley Sine (2025). Refugees at the Door: Initial Funding Partners and New Venture Performance in a Changing Emerging Market. Strategic Management Journal.
Working papers
Grady Raines and Peter Polhill (2026). How Credit Expansion Widened the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Survival in Mexico. Under Review.
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Grady Raines, Peter Polhill, and Wesley Sine. A Field Experiment on Neighborhood Disadvantage and Ethnicity in Entrepreneurial Finance. Under Review.
2024 AOM OMT Best Paper Proceedings
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Peter Polhill, Grady Raines, and Katie Apker. Traditional Gender Norms and the Decline of Women’s Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Natural Experiment. Under Review.
Aharon Mohliver and Grady Raines. How Social Upheaval Shaped Hiring Practices. Working Paper.
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Other