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Being your own boss and bossing others: The moderating effect of managing others on work meaning and autonomy for the self-employed and employees

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  • Nikolova, Milena
  • Nikolaev, Boris
  • Boudreaux, Christopher

Abstract

We examine the moderating role of being a supervisor for meaning and autonomy of self-employed and employed workers. We rely on regression analysis applied after entropy balancing based on a nationally representative dataset of over 80,000 individuals in 30 European countries for 2005, 2010, and 2015. We find that being a self-employed supervisor is correlated with more work meaningfulness and autonomy compared with being a salaried supervisor working for an employer. Wage supervisors and self-employed supervisors experience similar stress levels and have similar earnings, though selfemployed supervisors work longer hours. Moreover, solo entrepreneurs experience slightly less work meaningfulness, but more autonomy compared with self-employed supervisors. This may be explained by the fact that solo entrepreneurs earn less but have less stress and shorter working hours than selfemployed supervisors.

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  • Nikolova, Milena & Nikolaev, Boris & Boudreaux, Christopher, 2021. "Being your own boss and bossing others: The moderating effect of managing others on work meaning and autonomy for the self-employed and employees," GLO Discussion Paper Series 993, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:993
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    Cited by:

    1. Inessa Love & Boris Nikolaev & Chandra Dhakal, 2024. "The well-being of women entrepreneurs: the role of gender inequality and gender roles," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 325-352, January.
    2. Stephan, Meike & Demir, Cemre & Lasch, Frank & Vossen, Alexander & Werner, Arndt, 2023. "Psychological well-being of hybrid entrepreneurs: A replication and extension study using German panel data," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    3. Mihails Hazans & Jaan Masso & Per Botolf Maurseth, 2023. "Human values and selection into supervisory positions: Evidence from nine European countries," EGEIWP 01-2023, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Dec 2023.
    4. Shihao Wei & Christopher J. Boudreaux & Zhongfeng Su & Zhan Wu, 2024. "Natural disasters, personal attributes, and social entrepreneurship: an attention-based view," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1409-1427, April.
    5. Fossen, Frank M. & McLemore, Trevor & Sorgner, Alina, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship," IZA Discussion Papers 17055, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; supervisors; autonomy; work meaningfulness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

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