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The comparison of incomes of self-employed and salaried workers among German Nationals and immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Amelie Constant

    (The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn)

  • Yochanan Shachmurove

    (Departments of Economics, City College of The City University of New York and University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

This paper attempts to compare the economic success of immigrants and natives in Germany. Employing data from German Socioeconomic Panel, the paper investigates the factors affecting self-employment as well as compares the income of self-employed and employed workers among four groups – West Germans, East Germans, guest workers and ethnic immigrants. Increasing age, higher education and self-employed parents increases probability of an individual’s self-employment, with the last two applying only to West Germans. The self-employed earn more than their salaried counterparts, except for East Germans. Despite self-employed immigrants having the highest earnings of all groups, self-employment rates remain low among immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Amelie Constant & Yochanan Shachmurove, 2005. "The comparison of incomes of self-employed and salaried workers among German Nationals and immigrants," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-030, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:05-030
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bruder, Jana & Räthke-Döppner, Solvig, 2008. "Ethnic minority self-employment in Germany: Geographical distribution and determinants of regional variation," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 100, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; self-employment; Occupational Choice; immigrants; Wage Differentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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