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Independent or Dependent? European Labour Statistics and Their (In)ability to Identify Forms of Dependency in Self-employment

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  • Rossella Bozzon

    (University of Milan)

  • Annalisa Murgia

    (University of Milan)

Abstract

In the studies on labour market change and transformation of employment relations, the growth of new forms of self-employment, including platform work, has raised a broad debate about how to define, classify, and analyse the wide range of positions within the heterogeneous category of self-employed workers. This article analyses the emergent methodologies used in European comparative labour statistics to identify forms of dependency in self-employment. Using the 6th wave of the 2015 European Working Condition Survey and the 2017 ad hoc module on self-employment from the European Labour Force Survey, this article discusses how the representation of dependent self-employment changes by adopting a different operationalization of economic and operational dependency. Findings show how different indicators of dependency change the representation of self-employment in different economic sectors, affecting our understanding of the transformation of working arrangements within self-employment and the boundaries between employment and self-employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Rossella Bozzon & Annalisa Murgia, 2022. "Independent or Dependent? European Labour Statistics and Their (In)ability to Identify Forms of Dependency in Self-employment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 199-226, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:160:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-021-02798-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02798-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christina Behrendt & Quynh Anh Nguyen & Uma Rani, 2019. "Social protection systems and the future of work: Ensuring social security for digital platform workers," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 17-41, July.
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    7. Colin C. Williams & Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, 2018. "Evaluating the prevalence and distribution of dependent self†employment: some lessons from the European Working Conditions Survey," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 109-127, March.
    8. Alain SUPIOT, 1999. "The transformation of work and the future of labour law in Europe: A multidisciplinary perspective," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 138(1), pages 31-46, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jerzy Cieślik & André van Stel, 2024. "Solo self‐employment––Key policy challenges," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 759-792, July.

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