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The role of need satisfaction for solo self-employed individuals’ vs. employer entrepreneurs’ affective commitment towards their own businesses

Author

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  • Steffen E. Schummer

    (Philipps University of Marburg)

  • Kathleen Otto

    (Philipps University of Marburg)

  • Lena Hünefeld

    (German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA))

  • Maria U. Kottwitz

    (Philipps University of Marburg)

Abstract

Persistence in self-employment is crucial for entrepreneurial activities to generate long-term economic benefits. Consequently, this research examined the commitment of the self-employed towards their business as an important determinant of persistence. However, this research treats the self-employed as one entity. Yet we assume that especially for the research on commitment the differentiation of the self-employed into solo self-employed individuals (self-employed individuals without employees) and employer entrepreneurs (self-employed individuals with employees) provides seminal insights. Thus, this study examined differences in affective commitment to (emotional attachment to and identification with) one’s business and its antecedents between these self-employment forms. We used data of German solo self-employed individuals (n = 117) and employer entrepreneurs (n = 103) from the European Working Condition Survey (EWCS 2010). A simple t test revealed that the solo self-employed individuals report lower levels of affective commitment to their business than employer entrepreneurs. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and competence was more strongly related to affective commitment for the solo self-employed than that for employer entrepreneurs, whereas satisfaction of the need for relatedness was more weakly related among the solo self-employed than that the employer entrepreneurs. These results suggest that solo self-employed individuals and employer entrepreneurs not only differ in affective commitment to their businesses but also in their antecedents. Implications for research on motivational processes of the self-employed and for fostering persistence in self-employment are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen E. Schummer & Kathleen Otto & Lena Hünefeld & Maria U. Kottwitz, 2019. "The role of need satisfaction for solo self-employed individuals’ vs. employer entrepreneurs’ affective commitment towards their own businesses," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jglont:v:9:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1186_s40497-019-0190-2
    DOI: 10.1186/s40497-019-0190-2
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    1. Jessie Gevaert & Kim Bosmans & Deborah De Moortel & Christophe Vanroelen, 2023. "“I Thought It Would Have Been More about Only the Fun Stuff”—Exploring the Expectation–Reality Gap among the Novice Solo Self-Employed," Businesses, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Dvouletý, Ondřej, 2020. "Classifying self-employed persons using segmentation criteria available in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).

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