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Business Ownership versus Self†Employment

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  • Audrey Light
  • Robert Munk

Abstract

Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), we find that 68 percent of jobs classified as self†employment are not independently reported as self†owned businesses, while 16 percent of self†owned businesses are not independently classified as self†employment. Businesses not regarded as self†employment are often associated with such signs of entrepreneurship as self†identification as an entrepreneur, job descriptions that refer to business ownership or a managerial role, and high individual skill/asset levels. Self†employed jobs that are not independently classified as self†owned businesses are dominated by contract work and home†based, single†person pursuits. Our evidence suggests that self†employment should not be viewed as a synonym for business ownership.

Suggested Citation

  • Audrey Light & Robert Munk, 2018. "Business Ownership versus Self†Employment," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 435-468, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:57:y:2018:i:3:p:435-468
    DOI: 10.1111/irel.12213
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    3. Joelle Abramowitz, 2021. "What We Talk about When We Talk about Self-employment: Examining Self-employment and the Transition to Retirement among Older Adults in the United States," Working Papers wp423, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    4. Susanne L. Toney & Gregory N. Price, 2021. "Can Black Entrepreneurship Reduce Black-White Inequality in the United States?," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 294-301, December.
    5. Margaret E. Blume-Kohout, 2016. "Why are some foreign-born workers more entrepreneurial than others?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(6), pages 1327-1353, December.
    6. Sotirakopoulos, Panagiotis & Mount, Matthew P. & Guven, Cahit & Ulker, Aydogan & Graham, Carol, 2023. "A tale of two life stages: The imprinting effect of macroeconomic contractions on later life entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).
    7. Sotirakopoulos, Panagiotis & Guven, Cahit & Ulker, Aydogan & Graham, Carol, 2021. "Macroeconomic Contractions during Impressionable Years and Entrepreneurship in Later Adulthood," GLO Discussion Paper Series 850, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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