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The Self-Employment of Men and Women: What are their Motivations?

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  • W. Allen
  • William Curington

Abstract

Do men and women carry different motivations for entering self-employment? Earlier researchers have suggested that, as primary care givers for children and families, women face a more stringent time constraint relative to men. Thus, where men see self-employment as a chance for greater financial opportunity, women see a chance to take work that allows more time at home. This paper investigates this hypothesis using unique data that allow analysis of individual self-employment as a function of traditional economic and demographic variables as well as variables that partially capture individuals’ opinions and perceptions of pecuniary and nonpecuniary aspects of entrepreneurism. Results suggest that men who choose self-employment are influenced principally by pecuniary concerns, while women are influenced principally by family concerns and by the opinions of their family, friends, and peers. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • W. Allen & William Curington, 2014. "The Self-Employment of Men and Women: What are their Motivations?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 143-161, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:35:y:2014:i:2:p:143-161
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-014-9176-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Dominik Buttler & Eva Sierminska, 2020. "Career or Flexible Work Arrangements? Gender Differences in Self-employment in a Young Market Economy," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 70-95, March.
    3. Jaime Lara Lara & Leobardo Pedro Plata Pérez, 2021. "Satisfacción con la vida y condiciones de empleo en México," Economía: teoría y práctica, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México, vol. 55(2), pages 109-126, Julio-Dic.
    4. Wolfe, Marcus T. & Patel, Pankaj C., 2019. "Exploring the differences in perceptions of work importance and job usefulness to society between self-employed and employed individuals," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    5. Piers Thompson & Wenyu Zang, 2022. "A matter of life and death? Knowledge intensity of FDI activities and domestic enterprise," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(5), pages 1157-1179, October.
    6. Jahel Queralt, 2019. "Protecting the entrepreneurial poor: A human rights approach," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 18(4), pages 336-357, November.
    7. Stjepan Srhoj & Bruno Skrinjaric & Sonja Radas & Janette Walde, 2019. "Closing the Finance Gap by Nudging: Impact Assessment of Public Grants for Women Entrepreneurs," Working Papers 1902, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    8. Stjepan Srhoj & Bruno Škrinjarić & Sonja Radas & Janette Walde, 2022. "Small matching grants for women entrepreneurs: lessons from the past recession," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 117-142, June.

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