Does Solo Self-Employment Serve as a 'Stepping Stone' to Employership?

Michael Leith Cowling () and Mark Wooden
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Michael Leith Cowling: University of Melbourne

No 12841, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines the extent to which solo self-employment serves as a vehicle for job creation. Using panel data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, a dynamic multinomial logit model of transitions between labour market states is estimated. The empirical strategy closely follows that used in a previous study employing household data from Germany by Lechmann and Wunder (2017). Estimates of true cross-state dependence between solo self-employment and employership are obtained that are relatively small. Further, our results imply that the probability of a male remaining an employer just two years after transitioning out of solo self-employment is only 2% (and among women, it is virtually zero). The extent of both true cross-state dependence and true state dependence in employership is, however, much greater among individuals who have demonstrated a preference for self-employment in the past. This implies that pro-entrepreneurial policies that target more 'entrepreneurial' individuals will have more pronounced and long-term effects in stimulating job creation.

Keywords: solo self-employment; HILDA Survey; dynamic multinomial logit; state dependence; stepping stones (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm and nep-ent
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Published - published in: Labour Economics, 2021, 68, 101942

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Related works:
Journal Article: Does solo self-employment serve as a ‘stepping stone’ to employership? (2021)
Working Paper: Does Solo Self-employment Serve as a 'Stepping Stone' to Employership? (2019)
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