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The Changing Nature of Work among the Self-Employed in the 1990s: Evidence from Britain

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  • OLUFUNMILOLA AJAYI-OBE
  • SIMON C. PARKER

Abstract

We use British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data to examine the changing nature of work among the British self-employed in the 1990s. In the process we uncover several surprises and puzzles given the body of "received wisdom" about growing flexibility of work and employment patterns in that decade. Conventional wisdom implies three hypotheses: (1) growing female self-employment; (2) growing flexibility of employment involving more part-time work, temporary employment, and multiple job holding; and (3) a convergence in work hours between males and females. The principal surprises are that the data refute the first two hypotheses outright and provide only partial support for the third. An outstanding puzzle is why own-account, self-employed males work such long hours for wages that are generally lower than those of employees. At the same time, the self-employed are less satisfied with their work hours than employees are, despite being more satisfied on average with other characteristics of their jobs and with their lives in general. We estimate a panel data work hours equation by instrumental variables in an effort to resolve the puzzle and to shed light on self-employed labor supply behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Olufunmilola Ajayi-Obe & Simon C. Parker, 2003. "The Changing Nature of Work among the Self-Employed in the 1990s: Evidence from Britain," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 26(3), pages 501-517, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:tra:jlabre:v:26:y:2003:i:3:p:501-517
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    Cited by:

    1. Dimitris Christelis & Raquel Fonseca, 2015. "Labor Market Policies and Self-Employment Transitions of Older Workers," Cahiers de recherche 1516, Chaire de recherche Industrielle Alliance sur les enjeux économiques des changements démographiques.
    2. Jiequn Liu & Francis Munier, 2019. "Innovation and Entrepreneurs’ Subjective Well-being The mediation effect of job satisfaction and satisfaction with work-life balance," Working Papers of BETA 2019-42, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    3. Wim Naudé & José Ernesto Amorós & Oscar Cristi, 2011. "‘Surfeiting, The Appetite May Sicken’: Entrepreneurship and the Happiness of Nations," Working Papers 2011/07, Maastricht School of Management.
    4. Wim Naudé & José Amorós & Oscar Cristi, 2014. "“Surfeiting, the appetite may sicken”: entrepreneurship and happiness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 523-540, March.

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