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Ethnic Background and the Value of Self-Employment Experience: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Aldén, Lina

    (Department of Economics and Statistic, Linnaeus University)

  • Bastani, Spencer

    (Institute for Evaluation of Labor Market and Education Policy (IFAU), Uppsala)

  • Hammarstedt, Mats

    (Linneaus University)

Abstract

In this paper, we use a randomized field experiment in Sweden to investigate how self-employment experience is valued in the labor market. We find that self-employment experience negatively impacts the probability of receiving a positive response from employers. For male applicants, this holds regardless of their ethnic background, and independently of whether we consider applicants with experience solely from self-employment, or applicants with a mix of experience from wage-employment and self-employment. For female applicants, the results are less clear-cut. Our findings provide input into the discussion about the impact of self-employment on the chances for natives and immigrants to obtain wage-employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Aldén, Lina & Bastani, Spencer & Hammarstedt, Mats, 2020. "Ethnic Background and the Value of Self-Employment Experience: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment," Working Paper Series 1369, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1369
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Berggren, Niclas & Ljunge, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2022. "Immigrants’ Tolerance and Integration into Society," Working Paper Series 1447, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Self-employment; Wage-employment; Randomized experiment; Discrimination; Labor market outcomes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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