Using self-employment as proxy for entrepreneurship: some empirical caveats

Carl Magnus Bjuggren, Dan Johansson and Mikael Stenkula

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012, vol. 17, issue 3, 290-303

Abstract: Self-employment is the most frequently used measure of entrepreneurship. However, its definition varies between countries, which makes comparisons difficult. We present an analysis of Swedish self-employment data and show that even within one country, the depicted development differs greatly depending on the source used. Unlike previous claims in cross-country studies, we find that there is no basis for categorising Sweden as having increased its self-employment rate more than others. This demonstrates a need to carefully specify the characteristics of the data, and their advantages and disadvantages, before drawing conclusions about the frequency of entrepreneurship in different countries.

Keywords: Labour Force Survey; self-employed workers; self-employment; labour statistics; administrative sources; RAMS; global entrepreneurship index; GEINDEX; high impact entrepreneurship; COMParative ENtrepreneurship Data for International Analysis; COMPENDIA; Sweden; cross-country studies; statistical data; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship research; Europe. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Using Self-employment as Proxy for Entrepreneurship: Some Empirical Caveats (2010)
Working Paper: Using Self-employment as Proxy for Entrepreneurship: Some Empirical Caveats (2010)
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