The Reemergence of Self-Employment

This book presents results of a cross-national research project on self-employment in eleven advanced economies and demonstrates how and why the practice is reemerging in modern societies. While traditional forms of self-employment, such as skilled crafts work and shop keeping, are in decline, they are being replaced by self-employment in both professional and unskilled occupations. Differences in self-employment across societies depend on the extent to which labor markets are regulated and the degree to which intergenerational family relationships are a primary factor structuring social organization.For each of the eleven countries analyzed, the book highlights the extent to which social background, educational attainment, work history, family status, and gender affect the likelihood that an individual will enter--and continue--a particular type of self-employment. While involvement with self-employment is becoming more common, it is occurring for individuals in activities that are more diverse, unstable and transitory than in years past.

This book presents results of a cross-national research project on self-employment in eleven advanced economies and demonstrates how and why the practice is reemerging in modern societies. While traditional forms of self-employment, such as skilled crafts work and shop-keeping, are in decline, they are being replaced by self-employment in both prof

Illustrations viiTables xiPreface xvChapter OneSelf-Employment Dynamics in Advanced Economies 1Walter Müller and Richard ArumChapter TwoTrends in Self-Employment in Germany: Different Types, Different Developments? 36Henning Lohmann and Silvia LuberChapter ThreeEntries and Exits from Self-Employment in France over the Last Twenty Years 75Thomas Amossé and Dominique GouxChapter FourDutch Self-Employment between 1980 and 1997 104Boris F. Blumberg and Paul M. de GraafChapter FiveSelf-Employment in the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s 135Nigel Meager and Peter BatesChapter SixEntrepreneurs and Laborers: Two Sides of Self-Employment Activity in the United States 170Richard ArumChapter SevenSelf-Employment in Australia,1980-1999 203M.D.R.Evans and Joanna SikoraChapter EightWinners or Losers? Entry and Exit into Self-Employment in Hungary: 1980s and 1990s 245Péter Róbert and Erzsébet BukodiChapter NineThree Forms of Emergent Self-Employment in Post-Soviet Russia: Entry and Exit Patterns by Gender 277Theodore P.GerberChapter TenSelf-Employment in Italy: Scaling the Class Barriers 310Paolo Barbieri and Ivano BisonChapter ElevenEntry into and Exit from Self-Employment in Japan 348Hiroshi IshidaChapter TwelveOn One's Own: Self-Employment Activity in Taiwan 388Wei-hsin Yu and Kuo-Hsien SuChapter ThirteenThe Reemergence of Self-Employment: Comparative Findings and Empirical Propositions 426Richard Arum and Walter MüllerContributors' Notes 455Index 459