Being Independent is a Great Thing: Subjective Evaluations of Self‐Employment and Hierarchy

Matthias Benz and Bruno Frey

Economica, 2008, vol. 75, issue 298, 362-383

Abstract: One can be independent, or one can be subject to decisions made by others. This paper argues that this difference, embodied in the institutional distinction between the decision‐making procedures ‘market’ and ‘hierarchy’, affects individual wellbeing beyond outcomes. Taking self‐employment as an important case of independence, it is shown that the self‐employed derive higher satisfaction from work than those employed in organizations, irrespective of income gained or hours worked. This is evidence for procedural utility: people value not only outcomes, but also the processes leading to outcomes.

Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (291)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2007.00594.x

Related works:
Working Paper: Being Independent is a Great Thing: Subjective Evaluations of Self-Employment and Hierarchy (2003)
Working Paper: Being Independent is a Great Thing: Subjective Evaluations of Self-Employment and Hierarchy
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:econom:v:75:y:2008:i:298:p:362-383

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0013-0427

Access Statistics for this article

Economica is currently edited by Frank Cowell, Tore Ellingsen and Alan Manning

More articles in Economica from London School of Economics and Political Science Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().