Testing the ‘Residential Rootedness’ Hypothesis of Self-Employment for Germany and the UK

Darja Reuschke and Maarten van Ham
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Darja Reuschke: School of Geography and Geosciences, University of St Andrews, Irvine Building, North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AL, Scotland

Environment and Planning A, 2013, vol. 45, issue 5, 1219-1239

Abstract: Based on the notion that entrepreneurship is a ‘local event’, the literature argues that entrepreneurs are ‘rooted’ in place. This paper tests the ‘residential rootedness’ hypothesis of self-employment by examining for Germany and the UK whether the self-employed are less likely to move over long distances (internal migration) than workers in paid employment. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and accounting for transitions in employment status we found little evidence that the self-employed in Germany and the UK are more rooted in place than workers in paid employment. Generally speaking, the self-employed were no less likely than workers in paid employment to migrate over longer distance. In contrast to the residential rootedness hypothesis we found that entry into self-employment and female self-employment are associated with internal migration, and that the self-employed who work from home (home-based businesses) are fairly geographically mobile. The gendered results suggest that women might use self-employment as a strategy to be spatially mobile with their household, or as a strategy to stay in the workforce after having moved residence until they find a job in the more secure wage and salary sector.

Keywords: self-employment; internal migration; UK; Germany; panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:5:p:1219-1239

DOI: 10.1068/a45288

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