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Only the lonely? The influence of the spouse on the transition to self-employment

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  • Berkay Özcan

Abstract

Previous research showed that married individuals are overrepresented among the self-employed. Few studies proposed skill-spillover between the spouses within the marriage as an explanation. This paper deviates from the previous research by exploring different relationship contexts (e.g., cohabitation, being married or divorced, a widow(er) or single) and the role of partner influences under these contexts. It argues that the interaction between gender and relationship status implies variation in not only resources but also constraints, and hence sorts individuals into two different types of self-employment: entrepreneurial self-employment (i.e., incorporated business) and unincorporated self-employment. Using “Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) 1965–2005” data, results of the competing risk models show that marital status contributes to both types of self-employment transitions, especially for men, but also for women. Cohabitation is a less supportive context for entrepreneurship and a partner’s self-employment experience increases only women’s likelihood of entering into entrepreneurship. These results suggest that skill-spillover between partners might be context dependent and only in one direction (from men to women).
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  • Berkay Özcan, 2011. "Only the lonely? The influence of the spouse on the transition to self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 465-492, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:37:y:2011:i:4:p:465-492
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-011-9376-x
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Gender; Occupation choice; Family; Marriage; Cohabitation; L26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

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