Ações afirmativas para acesso ao ensino superior estimulam o empreendedorismo minoritário? Uma análise empírica de uma universidade brasileira

Abstract

The impact of Affirmative Actions (AA) for access to higher education is on the agenda around the world, as such policies encourage the schooling of minority groups and affect the lives of historically disadvantaged individuals. In this perspective, attending university increases the access of minorities to Research and Development (R&D), as well as to diversity and innovation, which can be a relevant factor in the idealization of enterprises. However, there is little empirical evidence about the effect of attending an excellent university on the probability of becoming an entrepreneur. Thus, the aim of this study is to assess whether the bonus (additional score) for admission to a Brazilian university is positively related to the probability of an individual starting a new business. The policy analyzed consists of the Argument for Inclusion (AI) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), which added 10% to the grade in the selection process for students from public schools until 2012. As an analysis strategy, the Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) method was used in a dataset that combines the application to UFRN between 2010 and 2012 with information on opening and partnership in companies, made available from the Brazilian Federal Revenue until 2021 (covering the period to starting at UFRN course and considering up to five years after graduation), and the Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (RAIS 2017) from the Ministry of Labor and Employment. In summary, there were no statistically significant effects of attending UFRN, benefiting from the policy, on the probability of undertaking. However, by restricting the analysis from year on year, the coefficients change only for 2010, having, therefore, a significant negative effect, indicating that those benefited by the policy who joined UFRN in that year present a reduction in the probability of undertaking. Furthermore, the results of an additional analysis show that eligible candidates who entered university through politics, specifically males, had an increase in years of education and in the probability of completing college, so academic training can generate future prospects of formal jobs, increasing the opportunity cost of entrepreneurship.