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Independent Workers: What Role for Public Policy

Author

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  • Alan B. Krueger

    (Princeton University)

Abstract

Independent workers are excluded from many important aspects of the social contract that protects traditional employees, such as anti-discrimination legislation and employer-provided health insurance. This lecture draws on evidence from a new survey of 1,321 self-employed workers to consider policies regarding benefits, taxes, training, discrimination, and contract enforcement. Among the most significant findings: 1) health insurance is typically listed as the most important benefit by self-employed workers; 2) nearly 20 percent of the self-employed obtain health insurance through healthcare.gov or a state exchange; 3) nearly half of self-employed African American workers reported that they felt they had been discriminated against by customers or clients because of their race, compared with only 10.6 percent of Whites; and 4) 36 percent of self-employed workers reported an incident in the last year when they were not paid on time and 27 percent report an incident where they were not paid in full. The lecture proposes and evaluates public policies to extend key elements of the social contract to the self-employed to improve the efficiency and fairness of the job market.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan B. Krueger, 2017. "Independent Workers: What Role for Public Policy," Working Papers 615, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
  • Handle: RePEc:pri:indrel:615
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gronau, Reuben, 1977. "Leisure, Home Production, and Work-The Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(6), pages 1099-1123, December.
    2. Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 2016. "The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015," Working Papers 603, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    3. Krueger, Alan B. & Kuziemko, Ilyana, 2013. "The demand for health insurance among uninsured Americans: Results of a survey experiment and implications for policy," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 780-793.
    4. Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 2017. "The Role of Unemployment in the Rise in Alternative Work Arrangements," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 388-392, May.
    5. Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 2016. "The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015," Working Papers 603, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

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    2. Garcia-Louzao, Jose & Hospido, Laura & Ruggieri, Alessandro, 2023. "Dual returns to experience," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Ying Zhen, 2023. "Gender and Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Music Industry," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 68(1), pages 45-60, March.
    4. 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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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employed; independent work;

    JEL classification:

    • J80 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - General

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