IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/sru/ssewps/2014-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How satisfied are the self-employed? A life domain view

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Binder

    (Bard College, Berlin, Platanenstr, 24, 13156 Berlin, Germany
    Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group, Kahlaische Str.10, 07745 Jena, Germany
    SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Susex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9SL, UK)

  • Alex Coad

    (SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Susex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9SL, UK
    RATIO, P.O. box 3203, SE-10364 Stockhold, Sweden
    Department of Business and Management, Aalborg University, Fibigerstaede 4, 9220 Aalborg O, DK.)

Abstract

It is well-known in the literature that self-employment positively influences job satisfaction, but the ejects on other life domains and overall life satisfaction are much less clear. Our study analyzes the welfare e?ects of self-employment apart from its monetary aspects, and focuses on the overall life satisfaction as well as di?erent domain satisfactions of self-employed individuals in our German sample from 1997 to 2010. Using matching estimators to create an appropriate control group and di?erentiating between di?erent types of self-employment, we find that voluntary self-employment brings with it positive benefits apart from work satisfaction, and leads to higher overall life satisfaction as well as increased health satisfaction, all of which increase in the first three years of self-employment. Being forced into selfemployment to escape unemployment, however, confers no such benefits. Additionally, both types of self-employment lead to increasing dissatisfaction with one’s leisure time.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2014. "How satisfied are the self-employed? A life domain view," SPRU Working Paper Series 2014-17, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:sru:ssewps:2014-17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=2014-17-swps-binder-coad.pdf&site=25
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Clark & Nathalie Colombier & David Masclet, 2008. "Never the same after the first time: the satisfaction of the second‐generation self‐employed," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(7), pages 591-609, November.
    2. Carter, Nancy M. & Gartner, William B. & Shaver, Kelly G. & Gatewood, Elizabeth J., 2003. "The career reasons of nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 13-39, January.
    3. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2005. "Beyond outcomes: measuring procedural utility," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 90-111, January.
    4. Andrea Ichino & Fabrizia Mealli & Tommaso Nannicini, 2008. "From temporary help jobs to permanent employment: what can we learn from matching estimators and their sensitivity?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 305-327.
    5. Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2008. "Self-Employment Rents : Evidence from Job Satisfaction Scores," Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 49(1), pages 35-45, June.
    6. Leon Schjoedt & Kelly G. Shaver, 2007. "Deciding on an Entrepreneurial Career: A Test of the Pull and Push Hypotheses Using the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics Data1," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(5), pages 733-752, September.
    7. Blanchflower, David G., 2000. "Self-employment in OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 471-505, September.
    8. Milo Bianchi, 2012. "Financial Development, Entrepreneurship, and Job Satisfaction," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 273-286, February.
    9. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(3), pages 455-488, June.
    10. Nattavudh Powdthavee, 2012. "Jobless, Friendless and Broke: What Happens to Different Areas of Life Before and After Unemployment?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(315), pages 557-575, July.
    11. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    12. Joern Block & Philipp Koellinger, 2009. "I Can't Get No Satisfaction—Necessity Entrepreneurship and Procedural Utility," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 191-209, April.
    13. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2008. "Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being: Reassessing the Easterlin Paradox," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(1 (Spring), pages 1-102.
    14. Krueger, Alan B. & Schkade, David A., 2008. "The reliability of subjective well-being measures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(8-9), pages 1833-1845, August.
    15. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    16. Harbi, Sana El & Grolleau, Gilles, 2012. "Does self-employment contribute to national happiness?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 670-676.
    17. Sander Wennekers & Andre van Stel & Niels Noorderhaven & Roy Thurik, 2004. "The Role Of Dissatisfaction And Per Capita Income In Explaining Self-Employment Across 15 European Countries," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-11, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    18. C. Praag & Peter Versloot, 2007. "What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 351-382, December.
    19. Layard, R. & Mayraz, G. & Nickell, S., 2008. "The marginal utility of income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(8-9), pages 1846-1857, August.
    20. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    21. Conchita D'Ambrosio & Joachim R. Frick, 2012. "Individual Wellbeing in a Dynamic Perspective," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 79(314), pages 284-302, April.
    22. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    23. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    24. David G. Blanchflower, 2004. "Self-Employment: More may not be better," NBER Working Papers 10286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Ari Hyytinen & Olli‐Pekka Ruuskanen, 2007. "Time Use of the Self‐Employed," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 105-122, February.
    26. Evanschitzky, Heiner & Baumgarth, Carsten & Hubbard, Raymond & Armstrong, J. Scott, 2007. "Replication research's disturbing trend," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 411-415, April.
    27. Sara Carter, 2011. "The Rewards of Entrepreneurship: Exploring the Incomes, Wealth, and Economic Well–Being of Entrepreneurial Households," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 39-55, January.
    28. Krause, Annabelle, 2013. "Don’t worry, be happy? Happiness and reemployment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-20.
    29. Matthias Benz & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Being Independent is a Great Thing: Subjective Evaluations of Self‐Employment and Hierarchy," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(298), pages 362-383, May.
    30. Benz, Matthias & Frey, Bruno S., 2008. "The value of doing what you like: Evidence from the self-employed in 23 countries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 445-455, December.
    31. Cooper, Arnold C. & Artz, Kendall W., 1995. "Determinants of satisfaction for entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(6), pages 439-457, November.
    32. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2009. "Unemployment and self‐assessed health: evidence from panel data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 161-179, February.
    33. Edwin Leuven & Barbara Sianesi, 2003. "PSMATCH2: Stata module to perform full Mahalanobis and propensity score matching, common support graphing, and covariate imbalance testing," Statistical Software Components S432001, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 01 Feb 2018.
    34. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    35. Almus, Matthias & Czarnitzki, Dirk, 2003. "The Effects of Public R&D Subsidies on Firms' Innovation Activities: The Case of Eastern Germany," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 21(2), pages 226-236, April.
    36. Herman Aguinis & Jeffrey R. Edwards, 2014. "Methodological Wishes for the Next Decade and How to Make Wishes Come True," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 143-174, January.
    37. Andrew E. Clark & Richard Layard & Claudia Senik, 2012. "The causes of happiness and misery," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00846583, HAL.
    38. José Millán & Jolanda Hessels & Roy Thurik & Rafael Aguado, 2013. "Determinants of job satisfaction: a European comparison of self-employed and paid employees," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 651-670, April.
    39. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew & Stutzer, Alois, 2001. "Latent entrepreneurship across nations," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 680-691, May.
    40. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    41. Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2013. "Life satisfaction and self-employment: a matching approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1009-1033, May.
    42. Martin Carree & Ingrid Verheul, 2012. "What Makes Entrepreneurs Happy? Determinants of Satisfaction Among Founders," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 371-387, April.
    43. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    44. Andersson, Pernilla, 2008. "Happiness and health: Well-being among the self-employed," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 213-236, February.
    45. Sarasvathy, Saras D., 2004. "The questions we ask and the questions we care about: reformulating some problems in entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 707-717, September.
    46. Niels Noorderhaven & Roy Thurik & Sander Wennekers & André van Stel, 2004. "The Role of Dissatisfaction and per Capita Income in Explaining Self–Employment across 15 European Countries," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(5), pages 447-466, September.
    47. Caliendo, Marco & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2011. "Searching for the Entrepreneurial Personality: New Evidence and Avenues for Further Research," IZA Discussion Papers 5790, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    48. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    49. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5067 is not listed on IDEAS
    50. Barton H. Hamilton, 2000. "Does Entrepreneurship Pay? An Empirical Analysis of the Returns to Self-Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(3), pages 604-631, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Torrès & Roy Thurik, 2019. "Small business owners and health," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 311-321, August.
    2. Coad, Alex & Binder, Martin, 2014. "Causal linkages between work and life satisfaction and their determinants in a structural VAR approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 263-268.

    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. Martin Binder, 2017. "Entrepreneurial Success and Subjective Well-Being: Worries about the Business Explain One's Well-Being Loss from Self-Employment," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 947, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2013. "Life satisfaction and self-employment: a matching approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1009-1033, May.
    3. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2021. "Self-employment and subjective well-being," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 411, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. Raquel Justo & Emilio Congregado & Concepción Román, 2021. "Becoming self-employed from inactivity: an in-depth analysis of satisfaction," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 145-187, January.
    5. Aguilar, Alexandra Cortés & García Muñoz, Teresa M. & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2013. "Heterogeneous self-employment and satisfaction in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 44-61.
    6. Pakura, Stefanie, 2015. "Unternehmerische Motivation und Wiedergründungsbereitschaft: Eine empirische Untersuchung deutscher Unternehmensneugründungen in der Frühentwicklungsphase," Lüneburger Beiträge zur Gründungsforschung 10, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Department of Entrepreneurship & Start-up Management.
    7. Peter van der Zwan & Jolanda Hessels & Cornelius A. Rietveld, 2015. "The Pleasures and Pains of Self-Employment: A Panel Data Analysis of Satisfaction with Life, Work, and Leisure," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 15-099/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    8. Cortés Aguilar Alexandra & Teresa Garcia-Muñoz & Ana I. Moro Egido, 2013. "Heterogeneous Self-employment and Subjective Well-Being. Evidence from Latin America," ThE Papers 13/05, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    9. Koch, Michael & Park, Sarah & Zahra, Shaker A., 2021. "Career patterns in self-employment and career success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1).
    10. Cueto, Begona & Pruneda, Gabriel, 2015. "Job Satisfaction of Wage and Self-Employed workers. Do preferences make a difference?," MPRA Paper 65432, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Clemens Hetschko, 2016. "On the misery of losing self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 461-478, August.
    12. Binder, Martin & Coad, Alex, 2013. "“I'm afraid I have bad news for you…” Estimating the impact of different health impairments on subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 155-167.
    13. Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr & Zhang, Mao, 2018. "Self-employment, financial development, and well-being: Evidence from China, Russia, and Ukraine," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 754-769.
    14. Nikolova, Milena, 2018. "Self-Employment Can Be Good for Your Health," GLO Discussion Paper Series 226, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Yuji Honjo & Kenta Ikeuchi & Hiroki Nakamura, 2022. "The Mediating Effect of Financial Motives in the Association between Entrepreneurial Experience and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Japan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 1043-1067, April.
    16. van der Zwan, Peter & Hessels, Jolanda & Rietveld, Cornelius A., 2018. "Self-employment and satisfaction with life, work, and leisure," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 73-88.
    17. Begoña Cueto & Gabriel Pruneda, 2017. "Job Satisfaction of Wage and Self-Employed Workers. Do Job Preferences Make a Difference?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 103-123, March.
    18. Nikolova, Milena, 2019. "Switching to self-employment can be good for your health," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 664-691.
    19. Albiol, Judit & Díaz Serrano, Lluís & Teruel, Mercedes, 2014. "Is Self-employment a Way to Escape from Skill Mismatches?," Working Papers 2072/247652, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    20. Dominik Hanglberger & Joachim Merz, 2015. "Does self-employment really raise job satisfaction? Adaptation and anticipation effects on self-employment and general job changes," Working Papers 385, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    subjective well-being; self-employment; domain satisfaction; matching estimators; SOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sru:ssewps:2014-17. 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: University of Sussex Business School Communications Team (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/spessuk.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.