Self-Employment in OECD Countries

David Blanchflower

No 7486, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper describes measurement of a self-employment rate and the important role the agricultural sector plays in any analysis of the determinants of self-employment. The determinants of the self-employment rate are modeled using a panel of 23 countries for the period 1966-1996. A similar analysis is then performed at the level of the individual using a time-series of cross-sections for the period 1975-1996 for 19 countries. For most countries there is a negative relationship between the self-employment rate and the unemployment rate. It is also shown that the self-employed are more satisfied with their jobs than are individuals who are not their own boss. I developed a flexibility index based on information provided by individuals in 1995. According to this index, the U.S. economy was the most flexible, followed by Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. Latvia, Russia and Hungary were found to be the least flexible countries. Of the OECD countries examined, Austria and Ireland were ranked lowest.

JEL-codes: J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (468)

Published as Labour Economics, Vol. 7, no. 5 (September 2000): 471-505

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Journal Article: Self-employment in OECD countries (2000)
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