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Does Self-Employment Reduce Unemployment?

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Author Info
David B. Audretsch ()
Roy Thurik ()
Andre van Stel ()
M.A. Carree

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Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamic interrelationship between self-employment and unemployment rates. On the one hand, unemployment rates may stimulate start-up activity of self-employed. On the other hand, higher rates of self-employment may indicate increased entrepreneurial activity reducing unemployment in subsequent periods. These two effects have resulted in considerable ambiguities about the interrelationship between unemployment and entrepreneurial activity. This paper introduces a two-equation vector autoregression model capable of reconciling these ambiguities and tests it for data of 23 OECD countries over the period 1974-2002. The empirical results confirm the two distinct relationships between unemploy-ment and self-employment, i.e. "refugee" and "entrepreneurial" effects. We also find that the "entrepreneu-rial" effects are considerably stronger than the "refugee" effects.

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Paper provided by Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group in its series Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy with number 2005-07.

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Length: 17 pages
Date of creation: May 2006
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Handle: RePEc:esi:egpdis:2005-07

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Related research
Keywords: entrepreneurship; Gibrat's Law; self-employment; unemployment;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  3. Rui Baptista & Roy Thurik, 2004. "The Relationship between Entrepreneurship and Unemployment: is Portugal an Outlier?," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-40, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Geroski, Paul A, 1989. "Entry, Innovation and Productivity Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(4), pages 572-78, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. David B. Audretsch & Max Keilbach, 2004. "Entrepreneurship Capital and Economic Performance," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-01, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Martin Carree & André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Sander Wennekers, 2007. "The Relation between Economic Development and Business Ownership revisited," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-022/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Martin A. Carree, 2002. "Does Unemployment Affect the Number of Establishments? A Regional Analysis for US States," Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 389-398, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. David B. Audretsch & A. Roy Thurik, 2000. "Capitalism and democracy in the 21st Century: from the managed to the entrepreneurial economy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 17-34. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  26. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-46, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  29. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2005. "Entrepreneurial engagement levels in the European Union," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-29, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  30. Evans, David S., 1986. "The Relationship Between Firm Growth, Size, and Age: Estimates for 100 Manufacturing Industries," Working Papers 86-33, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University. [Downloadable!]
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  34. Martin Carree & André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Sander Wennekers, 2000. "Business Ownership and Economic Growth in 23 OECD Countries," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 00-001/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Antonio Golpe & Andre van Stel, 2007. "Self-Employment and Unemployment in Spanish Regions in the Period 1979-2001," Jena Economic Research Papers in Economics 2007-021, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics, Thueringer Universitaets- und Landesbibliothek. [Downloadable!]
  2. Rui Baptista & Vítor Escária & Paulo Madruga, 2008. "Entrepreneurship, regional development and job creation: the case of Portugal," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 49-58, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Andrew Burke, 2008. "Investigating Blue Ocean v. Competitive Strategy: A Statistical Analysis of the Retail Industry," Scales Research Reports H200801, EIM Business and Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
  4. Sindy A. González & Héctor J. Villarreal, 2006. "More Pushed than Pulled: Self-employment in rural Mexico ten years after NAFTA," Working Papers 20063, Escuela de Graduados en Administración Pública y Políticas Públicas, Campus Monterrey, revised Nov 2006. [Downloadable!]
  5. Pernilla Andersson & Eskil Wadensjö, 2006. "Employees Who Become Self-Employed: Do Labour Income and Wages Have an Impact?," IZA Discussion Papers 1971, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Hugo Erken & Piet Donselaar & Roy Thurik, . "Total Factor Productivity and the Role of Entrepreneurship," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-034/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Verheul, I. & Stel, A.J. van & Thurik, A.R., 2005. "Explaining Female and Male Entrepreneurship at the Country Level," Research Paper ERS-2005-089-ORG Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Daniela Glocker & Viktor Steiner, 2007. "Self-Employment - a Way to End Unemployment?: Empirical Evidence from German Pseudo-Panel Data," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 661, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Rui Baptista & Roy Thurik, 2004. "The Relationship between Entrepreneurship and Unemployment: is Portugal an Outlier?," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-40, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
  10. Verheul, Ingrid & Van Stel, André & Thurik , Roy & Urbano, David, 2006. "The Relationship between Business Ownership and Unemployment in Spain: A Matter of Quantity or Quality?/La relación entre el autoempleo y el desempleo en España: Una cuestión de cantidad o de calid," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 24, pages 435-457, Agosto. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Dennis Fok & Andrew Burke, 2009. "The Dynamics of Entry and Exit," Scales Research Reports H200907, EIM Business and Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
  12. Chantal Hartog, 2008. "The two-way relationship between entrepreneurship and economic performance," Scales Research Reports H200822, EIM Business and Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
  13. Rui Baptista & Paulo Madruga & Vitor Escaria, . "Entrepreneurship, Regional Development and Job Creation: the Case of Portugal," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-06, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
  14. André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Ingrid Verheul & Lendert Baljeu, 2007. "The Relationship between Entrepreneurship and Unemployment in Japan," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-080/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 14 Jul 2008. [Downloadable!]
  15. Lorraine Uhlaner & Roy Thurik, 2005. "Post-Materialism Influencing Total Entrepreneurial Activity Across Nations," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-20, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2005. "Entrepreneurial engagement levels in the European Union," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-29, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Andre van Stel & Lendert Baljeu & Roy Thurik & Ingrid Verheul, 2006. "The Contribution of Business Ownership in Bringing Down Unemployment in Japan," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-05, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
  18. Martin Carree & André van Stel & Roy Thurik & Sander Wennekers, 2007. "The Relation between Economic Development and Business Ownership revisited," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-022/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  19. Leitão, João & Ferreira, João, 2007. "Liberalization of European Telecommunications and Entrepreneurship: Why German and Portuguese Experiences are so Equal and so Different?," MPRA Paper 5728, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  20. Jolanda Hessels & Marco Gelderen & Roy Thurik, 2008. "Entrepreneurial aspirations, motivations, and their drivers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 323-339, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Roy Thurik & Isabel Grilo, 2005. "Latent and actual entrepreneurship in Europe and the US: some recent developments," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-24, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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