No description available.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41). / Encouraging young people to get involved in self-employment is a solution that is continuously echoed by policy makers as a way of addressing the perennial problem of youth unemployment. This paper investigates how entrepreneurship can be promoted amongst the youth in South Africa and whether this will alleviate the high unemployment rates. Three questions are put forward: Firstly, what are the main constraints faced by youth when they set up a business? Secondly, what are the main determinants of being self-employed and thirdly, which groups within the youth population need to be targeted by policy makers? The findings are that the major impediment for youths entering self -employment is the lack of financial capital, while having a role model is highly significant in determining whether one becomes self-employed. African and Coloured youth are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to participation in self-employment and should therefore be a primary target for policy makers. The paper also makes a comparison of youth participation in self-employment between 2000 and 2004 and reveals that there is only a slight increase in the numbers of youth getting involved in self-employment. A holistic approach to entrepreneurship development complimented by financial assistance, mentoring and the provision of basic entrepreneurship skills training will assist the youth in moving from unemployment to self-employment.

No description available.

In Sweden and many other countries of the European Union throughout the entire twentieth century the self-employment has been important and essential for sustainable growth and welfare. The dynamics of self-employment have had an variance between areas that are characterized and distinguished by different labour market conditions, entrepreneurial traditions and other structural factors. In general, the agricultural importance in Swedish rural regions has declined over time, hence other small and medium industries have grown and gained more significance in these type of regions. A good example of the decline in industrialised importance for Swedish rural region is Bergslagen. Where the majority of the jobs in the traditional sectors of iron-ore mining were lost without any renewal. This study highlights the self-employment option out of the two-folded perspective. The first and foremost is to investigate the spatial i.e. rural-urban differences with the relation to individual motives as their choice for self-employment. Also, a second and as a side goal of the research, the propensity for self-employment is considered in order to get wider insight of the regional start-up activity in urban and rural regions. By using the rich survey dataset on ex-post motives and the register-based longitudinal data from Swedish Statistics (SCB). The regional differences in determinants for self-employment are examined by applying the binary probit and multinomial logit regressions. Additionally, in order to get a coherent unity within the multidimensional motives a factor analysis is used for grouping the motive variables into the four groups. Simultaneously for easier association to labour market the motives are also divided into typology of pull-push categories. The results regarding propensity for self-employment show small or no differences in the tendency for starting the own venture in rural side or urban regions. On the other hand, results concerning spatial aspects and motive behind the choice of occupation shows that a mutually pull and push reasons are more linked to the urban region than to the rural. Comparable results are observed on the subject of single ex-post motive “non-monetary” in respective area i.e. rural and urban.

This paper attempts to provide a basis for future regional entrepreneurship and economic development analysis by studying a particular subset of the labour force in Prairie Canada, self-employed individuals, not employed in agriculture, with employees (SEWE) to test the hypothesis that economies with a higher proportion of entrepreneurs will grow persistently faster than economies with a smaller proportion. The analysis begins by estimating a longitudinal regional participation percentage (or rate) of entrepreneurs for 20 economic regions (ERs) of Prairie Canada from 1987-2006 and examines whether these percentages varied over time. This paper finds the expected regional entrepreneurship percentage to be 5.01%. The SEWE regional participation percentages vary not only from region to region but within regions over time. This paper also analyzes whether there are regions which have consistently had higher entrepreneurship participation percentages and have these regions been rewarded with higher levels of job creation.<p> Various techniques are used to study the critical questions of this paper. These techniques include simple graphs, regression analysis and the development of a new measurement tool which incorporates relative entrepreneurship participation over time and subsequent job creation (employment) numbers. This alternative analysis is executed to further evaluate whether higher entrepreneurship participation percentages are rewarded with more growth as measured by employment figures, while incorporating the time lag of business creation, growth and/or closure on job creation.<p> Although this paper supports the widely held intuitive view that economies with a higher proportion of entrepreneurs in the labour force will grow persistently faster than economies with a smaller proportion the evidence is not definitive nor could a direct causal effect be established as higher proportions of entrepreneurs is no guarantee of higher levels of job creation.

This paper attempts to provide a basis for future regional entrepreneurship and economic development analysis by studying a particular subset of the labour force in Prairie Canada, self-employed individuals, not employed in agriculture, with employees (SEWE) to test the hypothesis that economies with a higher proportion of entrepreneurs will grow persistently faster than economies with a smaller proportion. The analysis begins by estimating a longitudinal regional participation percentage (or rate) of entrepreneurs for 20 economic regions (ERs) of Prairie Canada from 1987-2006 and examines whether these percentages varied over time. This paper finds the expected regional entrepreneurship percentage to be 5.01%. The SEWE regional participation percentages vary not only from region to region but within regions over time. This paper also analyzes whether there are regions which have consistently had higher entrepreneurship participation percentages and have these regions been rewarded with higher levels of job creation.<p> Various techniques are used to study the critical questions of this paper. These techniques include simple graphs, regression analysis and the development of a new measurement tool which incorporates relative entrepreneurship participation over time and subsequent job creation (employment) numbers. This alternative analysis is executed to further evaluate whether higher entrepreneurship participation percentages are rewarded with more growth as measured by employment figures, while incorporating the time lag of business creation, growth and/or closure on job creation.<p> Although this paper supports the widely held intuitive view that economies with a higher proportion of entrepreneurs in the labour force will grow persistently faster than economies with a smaller proportion the evidence is not definitive nor could a direct causal effect be established as higher proportions of entrepreneurs is no guarantee of higher levels of job creation.

This dissertation, in the standard three-essay format, studies three distinct but closely related aspects of the United States labor markets. Chapter 1 attempts to identify the main drivers of potential migration to the United States by using administrative data from the United States Diversity Visa Lottery. Estimating fixed effects panel data models that control for time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity in source-country level determinants of potential migration, I find that income levels in source countries and educational attainment of the source-country population play important role in determining migration intentions. Specifically, a one percent increase in per capita Gross Domestic Product of a source country decreases the potential migration rate from that country to the US by 1.36%. Similarly, a one percent increase in the educational attainment of source population (measured as the percentage of population with at least secondary education) decreases potential migration rate by 1.16%. The results obtained in this chapter improve our understanding of the composition of US labor markets by identifying the most important socio-economic variables that drive migration to the US. Chapter 2 estimates the causal impact of a change in supply of immigrant entrepreneurs on entrepreneurial propensities of natives. I draw data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey and use withinstate variation in supply of immigrant entrepreneurs for identification. To address concerns of endogeneity in the supply of immigrant entrepreneurs, I take advantage of a quasi-experiment provided by the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. I find that, on average, immigrants self-employed in unincorporated businesses have no discernible impact on self-employment propensities of natives. However, immigrants self-employed in incorporated businesses crowd in natives into incorporated self-employment. Specifically, a 1% increase in incorporated immigrant entrepreneurs increases the supply of incorporated native entrepreneurs by 0.11%. Furthermore, various sub-sample analyses demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs on entrepreneurial propensities of natives. The results obtained in this chapter have important implications for policies related to immigration and entrepreneurship development. Finally, Chapter 3 exploits the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to investigate the impact of publicly funded health insurance coverage for children on labor supply of adults. Using data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement of the Current Population Survey and triple difference identification strategy, the analysis demonstrates that public health insurance for children decreases labor supply of women, both at the extensive and the intensive margin, but increases that of men at the extensive margin. The estimates obtained in this chapter highlight the labor supply distortions associated with welfare benefits. / Economics

This thesis investigates the commitment bonds of individuals through the lens of liminality. While workers are able to commit to multiple targets and this has been linked to important performance outcomes, previous study of commitment in the workplace is almost exclusively concerned with organisational contexts and employer-employee dyads thus neglecting the increasingly fragmented and diverse world of work. Commitment is developed here by examining it in a liminal position, a term often applied to cross-boundary knowledge workers due to its ambiguous and uncertain nature but also the freedom of being 'betwixt and between' organisations, professions, and clients. Indicative of this liminal position are independent consultants, a growing army of self-employed freelance knowledge workers who use their tacit knowledge and high levels of human capital to solve complex problems for multiple business clients. Independent consultancy is a growing area and as self-employed independent contractors they are an increasingly important policy battleground. They are vital to our understanding of a changing world of work where existing theories and frameworks are becoming stretched, distorted and perhaps even irrelevant. Adopting a pragmatist research philosophy and making use of a reflexive metamethodology, 50 semi-structured interviews using critical incidents and participatory visual methods were conducted. Thematic analysis was used and a new method of visual metaphor analysis pioneered. The resulting findings focus on three areas. Firstly important targets of commitment are identified; clients, professional bodies, and collaborators. I argue that these act as substitutes for commitment to an organisation because they perform a similar role. Secondly, these bonds of commitment are underpinned by the inherent freedom of a liminal position. Although this freedom is evident in various ways, a more critical reading suggests that it is more complex and relational rather than total. Finally, this freedom from organisational ties and structures can cause conflicts of commitment based on knowledge, time, and contractual issues. Devoid of an organisational employer and many of the accompanying administrative and support mechanisms these conflicts are resolved at an individual level by turning the conflict into a synergy, preventing, avoiding, or in extreme cases changing the nature of the bond altogether. The primary contributions to knowledge are the development of substitutes for organisational commitment, the detailing of conflicts of commitment and their resolution, and the inherent freedom of a liminal position which underpins these. Furthermore, this thesis offers the first investigation using the Klein et al. (2012) reconceptualisation to investigate commitment outside of an organisational employment setting. This context and aspects of liminality are used to further problematise the extant literature and theory around the volition inherent in commitment and the isolation and measurement of targets. Understanding of liminality is advanced in terms of freedom, which is often assumed but rarely explored, and anti-structure by arguing that liminality is full of structure in the form of commitment bonds which act as important anchors and reference points to help minimise the ambiguity.

This paper examines three questions orderly with the help of the European Social Survey (ESS) pooled cross section data. Firstly, whether there is a gap of probability of being self-employed existed between natives and immigrants in Sweden. Secondly, whether there is heterogeneity existed within different ethnic group of immigrants and thirdly, if that heterogeneity existed across genders. The results show that there is no significant gap of probability of being self-employed between natives and immigrants in Sweden, and it can be due to the heterogeneity within the immigrant group itself. The results of logit model indicate that the probability of being self-employed for immigrants from Asian countries (the Middle East countries excluded) are significantly different from Swedish natives, and that for immigrants from the Middle East countries and Asian countries (the Middle East countries excluded) are both significantly different from immigrants from the Nordic countries (Sweden excluded). Furthermore, when looking by the perspective of genders, the results reveal that the heterogeneity existed when examining the groups for both genders can only be found in male immigrant group, while female immigrant group do not appear to be heterogeneous.

Federal and state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies are putting increased emphasis on, and providing more resources for, self-employment for individuals who are blind or visually-impaired since the Rehabilitation Act was amended in 1998. Additional emphasis is being placed on self-employment because VR system consumers – especially those who are blind or visually-impaired – are disproportionately likely to have difficulty obtaining other kinds of competitive employment in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 recession. The purpose of this quantitative study is to identify variables in the administrative records of the federal Rehabilitation Service Agency that impact self-employment outcomes and earnings among blind or visually-impaired consumers. The file, comprised of 13,998 cases closed in Texas from Fiscal Years 2008 through 2012, spans the national recession and subsequent slow recovery. From the original file, 798 cases closed through self-employment were examined by employment status at application, cost of services and returns on investments (ROI). This study found those who were self-employed at application were 50 times more likely to be self-employed at closure. Those who received assessments, diagnosis and treatment, technical assistance, and rehabilitation services were more likely to be self-employed at closure. The variables most closely related to weekly earnings at closure for self-employed consumers were: gender (male), being self-employed at application and receiving some form of rehabilitation technology. Disproportionate numbers of those who were self-employed at application were 55 to 65 and self-identified as White only with weekly earnings at application above the mean for the entire population of consumers whose cases were closed through self-employment. They received the fewest services on average over the shortest period of time at the lost average cost. Returns on investments in serving those who were self-employed at application were positive but small. The average cost of services provided to those employed at application was the highest. However, on average, they experienced decreases in the hours worked per week and weekly earnings. Thus, returns on investments were, on average, negative. Limitations of the study, implications for practice, and future research are discussed. / text