The incidence of self-employment by sexual orientation

Karen Leppel

Small Business Economics, 2016, vol. 46, issue 3, No 1, 347-363

Abstract: Abstract This study uses data from the American Community Survey to address three questions concerning the relationships between sexual orientation and self-employment. First, does the propensity of self-employment vary with sexual orientation? The study found that the individuals most likely to be self-employed were heterosexual men, followed by gay men, then lesbians, and lastly heterosexual women. Second, do the impacts of explanatory variables on the odds of being self-employed differ with sexual orientation? Multinomial logit estimation revealed that, in particular, the effects of married and unmarried partners’ income varied with the gender/sexual orientation group. Third, among employed individuals, does incidence of self-employment across occupations differ with sexual orientation? According to the analysis, heterosexual men showed a significantly higher incidence of self-employment than gay men in three occupation categories, while gay men had higher rates in two occupation groups. Lesbians had higher incidences of self-employment in all four occupation categories that exhibited significant sexual orientation differences among the women.

Keywords: Self-employment; Sexual orientation; Labor force status; Multinomial logit; J15; J22; J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-016-9699-8

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