Businesswomen in Germany and Their Performance by Ethnicity: It Pays to Be Self-Employed

Amelie Constant ()

No 3644, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: In this paper I assert that the entrepreneurial spirit can also exist in salaried jobs. I study the determinants of wages and the labor market success of two kinds of entrepreneurial women in Germany – self-employed and salaried businesswomen – and investigate whether ethnicity is important in these challenging jobs. Employing data from the German Socioeconomic Panel I estimate selection adjusted wage regressions for both types of businesswomen by country of origin. I find that self-employment offers businesswomen a lucrative avenue with higher monetary rewards, albeit for a shorter spell. If salaried businesswomen went into self-employment, they would receive considerably higher wages and for at least 30 years. However, if self-employed businesswomen went into salaried jobs, their wages would decline, suggesting that it is the self-employment sector that offers better opportunities and monetary success. Self-employed women in Germany fare well and most importantly, success does not depend on their ethnicity.

Keywords: businesswomen; entrepreneurship; self-employment; economics of minorities; immigrants wage differentials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M13 J23 J15 J61 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-ent, nep-lab and nep-mig
Date: 2008-08
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Working Paper: Businesswomen in Germany and Their Performance by Ethnicity: It Pays to Be Self-Employed (2008)
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