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The Economic Impacts of Self-Employment

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  • Goetz, Stephan J.
  • Fleming, David A.
  • Rupasingha, Anil

Abstract

Even as self-employment continues to increase, policymakers remain largely unaware of this trend and fail to see it as an opportunity for addressing enduring joblessness. In part, this is explained by limited data on the self-employed and by widespread perceptions that returns to self-employment are low; that the self-employed are merely patching together piecemeal work opportunities requiring limited skills; and that there are no local economic impacts or spillover benefits into other sectors. Contrary to these perceptions, recent studies suggest that self-employment has tangible positive economic impacts not only on wage and salary employment but also on per capita income growth and poverty reduction. This article synthesizes the pertinent emerging literature and assesses dynamics of the lags involved between self-employment shocks and subsequent employment growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Goetz, Stephan J. & Fleming, David A. & Rupasingha, Anil, 2012. "The Economic Impacts of Self-Employment," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(3), pages 1-7, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:joaaec:130267
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.130267
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    Cited by:

    1. Fleming, David A. & Measham, Thomas G. & Paredes, Dusan, 2015. "Understanding the resource curse (or blessing) across national and regional scales: Theory, empirical challenges and an application," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 59(4), October.
    2. João Ricardo Faria & Juan Carlos Cuestas & Luis Gil-Alana & Estefania Mourelle, 2021. "Self-employment by gender in the EU: convergence and clusters," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 48(3), pages 717-741, August.
    3. Fannin, James Matthew, 2012. "Discussion: Economic Opportunities in Rural Communities," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(3), pages 1-4, August.
    4. Tsvetkova, Alexandra & Partridge, Mark, 2017. "The shale revolution and entrepreneurship: An assessment of the relationship between energy sector expansion and small business entrepreneurship in US counties," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 423-434.
    5. Giuliano Guerra & Roberto Patuelli, 2016. "The Role of Job Satisfaction in Transitions into Self–Employment," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(3), pages 543-571, May.
    6. Stevenson, Marcie & Artz, Georgeanne, 2017. "Improving rural business development, one firm at a time: A look at the effects of the USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grant on firm survival," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252785, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    7. Albiol, Judit & Díaz Serrano, Lluís & Teruel, Mercedes, 2014. "Is Self-employment a Way to Escape from Skill Mismatches?," Working Papers 2072/247652, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    8. Cuong Nguyen, 2018. "Demographic factors, family background and prior self-employment on entrepreneurial intention - Vietnamese business students are different: why?," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-17, December.
    9. Alexandra Tsvetkova & Mark Partridge & Michael Betz, 2019. "Self-employment effects on regional growth: a bigger bang for a buck?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 27-45, January.
    10. Brian Whitacre & Roberto Gallardo & Sharon Strover, 2014. "Does rural broadband impact jobs and income? Evidence from spatial and first-differenced regressions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(3), pages 649-670, November.
    11. Conley, Kelsey & Whitacre, Brian, 2015. "Does Broadband Matter for Rural Entrepreneurs or ‘Creative Class’ Employees?," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196832, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    12. Alexandra Tsvetkova & Mark Partridge & Michael Betz, 2017. "Entrepreneurial and Employment Responses to Economic Conditions across the Rural-Urban Continuum," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 672(1), pages 83-102, July.
    13. Víctor M. González Sánchez, 2018. "Self-employment, Knowledge and Economic Growth: An empirical study for Latin American countries," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 12(4), December.
    14. Tsvetkova, Alexandra & Partridge, Mark & Betz, Micael, 2016. "Entrepreneurial and Wage and Salary Employment Response to Economic Conditions Across the Rural-Urban Continuum," MPRA Paper 75781, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Jacqueline Chattopadhyay, 2018. "State Health Insurance Regulation and Self-Employment Rates After the Great Recession: The Role of Guaranteed Issue Mandates," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 32(1), pages 78-92, February.
    16. Ana Cuadros & Juan Carlos Cuestas & Joan Martín-Montaner, 2021. "Self-employment convergence in Europe: The role of migration," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Judit Albiol-Sánchez & Luis Diaz-Serrano & Mercedes Teruel, 2021. "The Transition to Self-Employment and Perceived Skill-Mismatches: Panel Data Evidence from Eleven EU Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 957-977, February.
    18. Andersson, Martin & Lavesson, Niclas & Partridge, Mark D., 2019. "Local Rates of New Firm Formation: An Empirical Exploration using Swedish Data," Working Paper Series 1290, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    19. Víctor M. González-Sánchez & Antonio Martínez Raya & Susana de los Ríos-Sastre, 2020. "An Empirical Study for European Countries: Factors Affecting Economic Growth and Self-Employment by Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-15, November.
    20. Mark Partridge & Sydney Schreiner & Alexandra Tsvetkova & Carlianne Elizabeth Patrick, 2020. "The Effects of State and Local Economic Incentives on Business Start-Ups in the United States: County-Level Evidence," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(2), pages 171-187, May.
    21. Ery Jayanti & Yusri Hazmi & Halik & B.S Nazamuddin & Teuku Zulkarnain, 2020. "Correlation of Income Per-Capita, Secondary and Tertiary Education, and Environmental School Quantity to Achieve Clean Water Access in the Sustainable Development Goals," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 888-903.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community/Rural/Urban Development;

    JEL classification:

    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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