Testing the 'Residential Rootedness': Hypothesis of Self-Employment for Germany and the UK
Abstract
Based on the notion that entrepreneurship is a 'local event' , the literature argues that selfemployed workers and entrepreneurs are 'rooted' in place. This paper tests the 'residential rootedness'-hypothesis of self-employment by examining for Germany and the UK whether the self-employed are less likely to move or migrate than employees. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-economic Panel Study (SOEP) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and accounting for transitions in employment status we found little evidence that the self-employed in Germany and the UK are more rooted in place than employees. Firstly, the self-employed are not less likely to move or migrate over the period 2001-08. Secondly, those who are currently self-employed are also not more likely to have remained in the same place over a period of three years (2008-06 and 2005-03) as compared to those who are currently employed. Thirdly, those who are continuously self-employed are not less likely to have moved or migrated over a 3-period than those in continuous paid employment. Fourthly, in contrast to the prevalent 'residential rootedness'-hypothesis in economic geography and regional studies, we found that the entry into and the exit from selfemployment are associated with internal migration.Download Info
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Paper provided by DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in its series SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research with number 413.Length: 18 p.
Date of creation: 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp413
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Keywords: Self-employment; migration; residential mobility; rootedness hypothesis; UK; Germany;Other versions of this item:
- Reuschke, Darja & van Ham, Maarten, 2011. "Testing the 'Residential Rootedness'-Hypothesis of Self-Employment for Germany and the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 6062, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2011-12-19 (All new papers)
- NEP-BEC-2011-12-19 (Business Economics)
- NEP-ENT-2011-12-19 (Entrepreneurship)
- NEP-MIG-2011-12-19 (Economics of Human Migration)
- NEP-URE-2011-12-19 (Urban & Real Estate Economics)
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