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How satisfied are the self-employed? A life domain view

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  • Martin Binder

    (Bard College, Berlin, Platanenstr, 24, 13156 Berlin, Germany
    Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group, Kahlaische Str.10, 07745 Jena, Germany
    SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Susex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9SL, UK)

  • Alex Coad

    (SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Susex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9SL, UK
    RATIO, P.O. box 3203, SE-10364 Stockhold, Sweden
    Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Fibigerstaede 4, 9220 Aalborg O, DK.)

Abstract

It is well-known in the literature that self-employment positively influences job satisfaction, but the ejects on other life domains and overall life satisfaction are much less clear. Our study analyzes the welfare e?ects of self-employment apart from its monetary aspects, and focuses on the overall life satisfaction as well as di?erent domain satisfactions of self-employed individuals in our German sample from 1997 to 2010. Using matching estimators to create an appropriate control group and di?erentiating between di?erent types of self-employment, we find that voluntary self-employment brings with it positive benefits apart from work satisfaction, and leads to higher overall life satisfaction as well as increased health satisfaction, all of which increase in the first three years of self-employment. Being forced into selfemployment to escape unemployment, however, confers no such benefits. Additionally, both types of self-employment lead to increasing dissatisfaction with one’s leisure time.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2014. "How satisfied are the self-employed? A life domain view," SPRU Working Paper Series 2014-17, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:sru:ssewps:2014-17
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    1. Olivier Torrès & Roy Thurik, 2019. "Small business owners and health," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 311-321, August.
    2. Coad, Alex & Binder, Martin, 2014. "Causal linkages between work and life satisfaction and their determinants in a structural VAR approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 263-268.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    subjective well-being; self-employment; domain satisfaction; matching estimators; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

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