IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobuve/v12y2019ics2352673418300970.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Two decades of European self-employment: Is the answer to who becomes self-employed different over time and countries?

Author

Listed:
  • Cowling, Marc
  • Millán, José María
  • Yue, Wei

Abstract

•The gender gap in Old Europe has diminished significantly and is estimated to be as low as 6–7%.•The gender gap in New Europe remains large and could be as high as four times that in Old Europe.•The propensity to become self-employed increases in age past the common retirement age of 65.•The education structure of the self-employed is such that the lowest and highest educated both prefer self-employment.•Political and economic turmoil takes a generation to work its way through the system, but it is associated with higher rates of self-employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Cowling, Marc & Millán, José María & Yue, Wei, 2019. "Two decades of European self-employment: Is the answer to who becomes self-employed different over time and countries?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:12:y:2019:i:c:s2352673418300970
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00138
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352673418300970
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbvi.2019.e00138?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony Edo & Farid Toubal, 2015. "Selective Immigration Policies and Wages Inequality," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 160-187, February.
    2. Peter J. Kuhn & Herb J. Schuetze, 2001. "Self-employment dynamics and self-employment trends: a study of Canadian men and women, 1982-1998," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 34(3), pages 760-784, August.
    3. Gindling, T.H. & Newhouse, David, 2014. "Self-Employment in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 313-331.
    4. James Liang & Hui Wang & Edward P. Lazear, 2018. "Demographics and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(S1), pages 140-196.
    5. Blanchflower, David G., 2000. "Self-employment in OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 471-505, September.
    6. Simeon Djankov & Yingyi Qian & Gérard Roland & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2006. "Who Are China's Entrepreneurs?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 348-352, May.
    7. Nigel Meager & Peter Bates & Marc Cowling, 2003. "An Evaluation of Business Start-Up Support for Young People," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 186(1), pages 59-72, October.
    8. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    9. Hintermaier, Thomas & Steinberger, Thomas, 2005. "Occupational choice and the private equity premium puzzle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1765-1783, October.
    10. Guiso, Luigi & Jappelli, Tullio & Terlizzese, Daniele, 1996. "Income Risk, Borrowing Constraints, and Portfolio Choice," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 158-172, March.
    11. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Arndt Werner, 2007. "Entrepreneurial Signaling via Education: A Success Factor in Innovative Start-Ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 173-190, June.
    12. Román, Concepción & Congregado, Emilio & Millán, José María, 2013. "Start-up incentives: Entrepreneurship policy or active labour market programme?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 151-175.
    13. Marc Cowling, 2000. "Are entrepreneurs different across countries?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(12), pages 785-789.
    14. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:849-919 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Marco Caliendo & Frank Fossen & Alexander Kritikos, 2014. "Personality characteristics and the decisions to become and stay self-employed," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 787-814, April.
    16. Andrew Weiss, 1995. "Human Capital vs. Signalling Explanations of Wages," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 133-154, Fall.
    17. Berglann, Helge & Moen, Espen R. & Røed, Knut & Skogstrøm, Jens Fredrik, 2011. "Entrepreneurship: Origins and returns," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 180-193, April.
    18. Thomas Leoni & Martin Falk, 2010. "Gender and field of study as determinants of self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 167-185, February.
    19. Williams, Donald R., 2012. "Gender discrimination and self-employment dynamics in Europe," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 153-158.
    20. Burke, Andrew E & FitzRoy, Felix R & Nolan, Michael A, 2000. "When Less Is More: Distinguishing between Entrepreneurial Choice and Performance," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(5), pages 565-587, December.
    21. David G. Blanchflower, 2004. "Self-Employment: More may not be better," NBER Working Papers 10286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    23. Parker,Simon C., 2018. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781316621714, January.
    24. Andrew E. Burke & Felix R. FitzRoy & Michael A. Nolan, 2000. "When Less is More: Distinguishing Between Entrepreneurial Choice and Performance," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(5), pages 565-587, December.
    25. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Lekfuangfu, Warn N. & Wooden, Mark, 2015. "What's the good of education on our overall quality of life? A simultaneous equation model of education and life satisfaction for Australia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 10-21.
    26. Cowling, Marc & Mitchell, Peter, 1997. "The Evolution of U.K. Self-Employment: A Study of Government Policy and the Role of the Macroeconomy," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 65(4), pages 427-442, September.
    27. Tommaso Minola & Giuseppe Criaco & Martin Obschonka, 2016. "Age, culture, and self-employment motivation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 187-213, February.
    28. repec:cii:cepiei:2014-q2-138-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. José María Millán & Emilio Congregado & Concepción Román, 2010. "Determinants of Self-Employment Dynamics and their Implications on Entrepreneurial Policy Effectiveness," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 72, pages 45-76.
    30. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    31. Alina Sorgner & Michael Fritsch, 2013. "Occupational Choice and Self-Employment - Are They Related?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-001, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    32. Concepción Román & Emilio Congregado & José Millán, 2011. "Dependent self-employment as a way to evade employment protection legislation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 363-392, October.
    33. Tommaso Minola & Giuseppe Criaco & Martin Obschonka, 2016. "Age, culture, and self-employment motivation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 187-213, February.
    34. Taylor, Mark P, 1996. "Earnings, Independence or Unemployment: Why Become Self-Employed?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 58(2), pages 253-266, May.
    35. Bates, Timothy, 1995. "Self-employment entry across industry groups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 143-156, March.
    36. Belman, Dale & Heywood, John S, 1991. "Sheepskin Effects in the Returns to Education: An Examination on Women and Minorities," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(4), pages 720-724, November.
    37. Boopen Seetanah, 2009. "The economic importance of education: Evidence from Africa using dynamic panel data analysis," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 12, pages 137-157, May.
    38. Jacob Mincer, 1958. "Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66, pages 281-281.
    39. Parker, Simon C, 1997. "The Distribution of Self-Employment Income in the United Kingdom, 1976-1991," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 455-466, March.
    40. Begona Cueto & Javier Mato, 2006. "An analysis of self-employment subsidies with duration models," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 23-32.
    41. Ahn, Taehyun, 2010. "Attitudes toward risk and self-employment of young workers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 434-442, April.
    42. Emilio Congregado & José María Millán & Concepción Román, 2014. "The emergence of new entrepreneurs in Europe," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 138, pages 28-48.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dvouletý, Ondřej, 2020. "Classifying self-employed persons using segmentation criteria available in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    2. Andrew Burke & Serhiy Lyalkov & Ana Millán & José María Millán & André Stel, 2021. "How do country R&D change the allocation of self-employment across different types?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 695-721, February.
    3. Román, Concepción & Congregado, Emilio & Millán, José María, 2013. "Start-up incentives: Entrepreneurship policy or active labour market programme?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 151-175.
    4. Catherine Laffineur & Saulo Dubard Barbosa & Alain Fayolle & Emeran Nziali, 2017. "Active labor market programs’ effects on entrepreneurship and unemployment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 889-918, December.
    5. Jose Maria Millan & Emilio Congregado & Concepcion Roman & Mirjam van Praag & Andre van Stel, 2011. "The Value of an Educated Population for an Individual's Entrepreneurship Success," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-066/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 06 May 2014.
    6. José María Millán & Emilio Congregado & Concepción Román, 2010. "Determinants of Self-Employment Dynamics and their Implications on Entrepreneurial Policy Effectiveness," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 72, pages 45-76.
    7. Joanna Woronkowicz & Douglas S. Noonan, 2019. "Who Goes Freelance? The Determinants of Self-Employment for Artists," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(4), pages 651-672, July.
    8. Emma Lappi, 2023. "Help from the past—coworker ties and entry wages after self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1171-1196, March.
    9. Conen, Wieteke & Schippers, Johannes Jan & Schulze Buschoff, Karin, 2016. "Self-employed without personnel between freedom and insecurity," WSI Studies 05, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    10. Blanchflower, David G. & Shadforth, Chris, 2007. "Entrepreneurship in the UK," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 3(4), pages 257-364, July.
    11. repec:cii:cepiei:2014-q2-138-2 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Åstebro, Thomas & Chen, Jing, 2014. "The entrepreneurial earnings puzzle: Mismeasurement or real?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 88-105.
    13. Dongxu Wu & Zhongmin Wu, 2015. "Intergenerational links, gender differences, and determinants of self-employment," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(3), pages 400-414, August.
    14. Raquel Justo & Emilio Congregado & Concepción Román, 2021. "Becoming self-employed from inactivity: an in-depth analysis of satisfaction," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 145-187, January.
    15. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr & Tina Xu, 2017. "Personality Traits of Entrepreneurs: A Review of Recent Literature," NBER Working Papers 24097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Juan Sanchis Llopis & José María Millán & Rui Baptista & Andrew Burke & Simon Parker & Roy Thurik, 2015. "Good times, bad times: entrepreneurship and the business cycle," Post-Print hal-02013660, HAL.
    17. Ignacio Moral-Arce & Javier Martín-Román & Ángel L. Martín-Román, 2019. "Cessation of Activity Benefit for Spanish Self-employed Workers: A Heterogeneous Impact Evaluation," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 231(4), pages 41-79, December.
    18. Sascha G. Walter & Achim Walter, 2009. "Personenbezogene Determinanten von Unternehmensgründungen: Stand der Forschung und Perspektiven des Fortschritts," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 57-89, February.
    19. Nicolaou, Nicos & Shane, Scott, 2009. "Can genetic factors influence the likelihood of engaging in entrepreneurial activity?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-22, January.
    20. Peter van der Zwan & Ingrid Verheul & Roy Thurik & Isabel Grilo, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Progress: Climbing the Entrepreneurial Ladder in Europe and the US," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-070/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 17 Mar 2010.
    21. Eliud Dismas Moyi, 2019. "The effect of mobile technology on self-employment in Kenya," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:12:y:2019:i:c:s2352673418300970. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-business-venturing-insights .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.