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The Decline of the Self-Employment Rate in Australia

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  • Atalay, Kadir
  • Kim, Woo-Yung
  • Whelan, Stephen

Abstract

This paper using the Australian panel data(HILDA) investigates the declining trend of self-employment rate in Australia, a pattern observed in a number of other developed countries in the 2000s. We focus on the entry into and the exit from self-employment, treating males and females separately. Our results show that the self-employment rate has declined in Australia because older workers, especially older female workers, remained longer in paid-employment. This finding indicates that although the self-employment rate of older workers is higher than that of younger workers, the gap has decreased in recent years so that the average self-employment rate has declined. In addition, we provide some evidence that industry and institutional changes, such as reforms in tax and pension systems, may have contributed to an increase in the labour force participation of older females, which may explain why the decline of self-employment has been severe for this group.

Suggested Citation

  • Atalay, Kadir & Kim, Woo-Yung & Whelan, Stephen, 2013. "The Decline of the Self-Employment Rate in Australia," Working Papers 2013-03, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:syd:wpaper:2123/8925
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Self-employment rate falling in Oz
      by Nicholas Gruen in Club Troppo on 2013-03-06 16:22:44

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    Cited by:

    1. Pekkala Kerr, Sari & Kerr, William, 2020. "Immigrant entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    2. Elisa Birch & Alison Preston, 2022. "The Australian labour market in 2021," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 22-02, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    3. Mark Wooden, 2021. "Job Characteristics and the Changing Nature of Work," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 494-505, December.
    4. Pi-Shen Seet & Wee-Liang Tan, 2024. "The impact of positive and negative psychological affect and overconfidence from major family events on new venture survival," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1617-1647, September.
    5. Inga Laß & Mark Wooden, 2019. "Non-standard Employment and Wages in Australia," RBA Annual Conference Papers acp2019-04, Reserve Bank of Australia, revised Jul 2019.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retirement; Older Workers; Self Employment;
    All these keywords.

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