IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/rbs/ijbrss/v9y2020i5p150-159.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining the motivation factors for individuals choosing self-employment: An assessment on Saudi labor market

Author

Listed:
  • Hussain M. Al Obaid

    (Business Admistration Department, College of Business, King Khalid University, Abha-61471, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

The self-employment issue has attracted the attention of both researchers in the field of economies of labor and policymakers. This paper investigates the main determinants of being self-employed in Saudi Arabia including age, gender, qualification, earning, and non-financial benefits cited by the self-employed workers in the Saudi labor market. However, very limited previous research has discussed the subject of self-employment determinants altogether. The analysis uses the "household survey" Labor Force Direct Survey LFDS for Saudi Labor Market to investigate individuals’ determinants for being self-employed and to have a better explanation of self-employed jobs and their determinants. Estimates are presented on a sample of 1100 participants who became self-employed by 2017. The data provide detailed information on self-employment that allows analyzing the complete set of determinants that controlled self-employment. The descriptive statistics show that the self-employed tend to be young males aged between 20-35 years, with a preference of working in the telecommunication sector, with a high school certificate, and with a monthly earning target between 7001-10000 SR. Findings show that the most cited reason for the male at 90% was a preference for being one’s own boss. For females, the most cited motivating factor about 89% was ‘the opportunity to raise more money. Key Words: Motivation, Self-employment, Labor Market, Saudi Arabia

Suggested Citation

  • Hussain M. Al Obaid, 2020. "Examining the motivation factors for individuals choosing self-employment: An assessment on Saudi labor market," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(5), pages 150-159, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:9:y:2020:i:5:p:150-159
    DOI: 10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.799
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs/article/view/799/647
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.799
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.20525/ijrbs.v9i5.799?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521728355, March.
    2. Zoltan J. Acs & Catherine Armington, 2008. "The Impact of Geographic Differences in Human Capital on Service Firm Formation Rates," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 19, pages 244-278, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Amelie Constant & Yochanan Shachmurove & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2003. "What Makes an Entrepreneur and Does It Pay?: Native Men, Turks, and Other Migrants in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 386, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Robinson, Peter B. & Sexton, Edwin A., 1994. "The effect of education and experience on self-employment success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 141-156, March.
    5. Raquel Carrasco, 1999. "Transitions to and From Self‐employment in Spain: An Empirical Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(3), pages 315-341, August.
    6. You, Jong-Il, 1995. "Small Firms in Economic Theory," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 19(3), pages 441-462, June.
    7. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, March.
    8. Bruce, Donald & Schuetze, Herbert J., 2004. "The labor market consequences of experience in self-employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 575-598, October.
    9. Melanie Arntz & Ralf Wilke, 2009. "Unemployment Duration in Germany: Individual and Regional Determinants of Local Job Finding, Migration and Subsidized Employment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 43-61.
    10. Evans, David S & Leighton, Linda S, 1989. "Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(3), pages 519-535, June.
    11. Victor E. Tokman, 2007. "Modernizing the informal sector," Working Papers 42, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oberschachtsiek, Dirk, 2010. "How do local labor market conditions and individual characteristics affect quitting selfemployment?," Discussion Papers, Presidential Department P 2010-001, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Taehyun Ahn, 2015. "The employment dynamics of less-educated men in the United States: The role of self-employment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 48(1), pages 110-133, February.
    3. Román, Concepción & Congregado, Emilio & Millán, José María, 2013. "Start-up incentives: Entrepreneurship policy or active labour market programme?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 151-175.
    4. Millán, José María & Congregado, Emilio & Román, Concepción, 2014. "Persistence in entrepreneurship and its implications for the European entrepreneurial promotion policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 83-106.
    5. Paul A. Coomes & Jose Fernandez & Stephan F. Gohmann, 2013. "The Rate of Proprietorship Among Metropolitan Areas: The Impact of the Local Economic Environment and Capital Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(4), pages 745-770, July.
    6. Catherine Laffineur & Saulo Dubard Barbosa & Alain Fayolle & Emeran Nziali, 2017. "Active labor market programs’ effects on entrepreneurship and unemployment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 889-918, December.
    7. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Jose Maria Millan & Emilio Congregado & Concepcion Roman & Mirjam van Praag & Andre van Stel, 2011. "The Value of an Educated Population for an Individual's Entrepreneurship Success," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 11-066/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 06 May 2014.
    9. Åstebro, Thomas & Chen, Jing, 2014. "The entrepreneurial earnings puzzle: Mismeasurement or real?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 88-105.
    10. Hyytinen, Ari & Ilmakunnas, Pekka & Toivanen, Otto, 2013. "The return-to-entrepreneurship puzzle," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 57-67.
    11. Backman, Mikaela & Karlsson, Charlie, 2013. "Who says life is over after 55? Entrepreneurship and an aging population," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 325, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    12. Mikaela Backman, 2013. "Who says life is over after 55? - New firm formation and an ageing population," ERSA conference papers ersa13p58, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Wei Xiao & Mingqin Wu, 2021. "Life-cycle factors and entrepreneurship: evidence from rural China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 2017-2040, December.
    14. Gumus, Gulcin & Regan, Tracy L., 2015. "Self-employment and the role of health insurance in the U.S," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 357-374.
    15. Sundriyal, Vivek Kumar & Gabrielsson, Jonas, 2024. "The employment consequences of founding an incorporated business among STEM founders: Evidence from Swedish microdata," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    16. Thomas Ã…stebro & Kevyn Yong, 2016. "Invention Quality and Entrepreneurial Earnings: The Role of Prior Employment Variety," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(2), pages 381-400, March.
    17. Aaron Chatterji & Edward Glaeser & William Kerr, 2014. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 129-166.
    18. Brixiová, Zuzana & Ncube, Mthuli & Bicaba, Zorobabel, 2015. "Skills and Youth Entrepreneurship in Africa: Analysis with Evidence from Swaziland," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 11-26.
    19. Parker, Simon C., 2013. "Do serial entrepreneurs run successively better-performing businesses?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 652-666.
    20. Schulz, Matthias & Urbig, Diemo & Procher, Vivien, 2016. "Hybrid entrepreneurship and public policy: The case of firm entry deregulation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 272-286.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rbs:ijbrss:v:9:y:2020:i:5:p:150-159. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Umit Hacioglu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ssbffea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.