Management Summary Research Study „Dependent self-employed individuals: are they different from paid employees?“
This study focuses on dependent self-employment, which covers a situation where a person works for the same employer as a typical worker while on a self-employment contractual basis, i.e., without a traditional employment contract and without certain rights granted to “regular” employees.
The empirical article is based on a dataset of 30 countries participating in the 2017 European Union Labour Force (LFS) Survey and compares the characteristics of employees and dependent self-employed individuals. Methodologically, the study relies on the estimation of a multivariate logistic regression model.
The main hypothesis assuming that dependent self-employed work most often in low-skilled occupations was empirically supported. There was also a non-linear (u-shaped) relationship between the years of accumulated experience (with a turning point at 35 years) and the likelihood of being dependent self-employed. Other results showed that dependent self-employed are less likely to be women, and they are more likely born outside of the countries where they participate in the labour markets.
The phenomenon should still be addressed by policymakers and labour office representatives, aiming to protect, primarily, vulnerable lower-skilled workers. It is vital to spread information about the potentially harmful effects of dependent self-employment, for example, through the labour market office representatives, who often interact with the unemployed or individuals at risk of unemployment.
Target Audience/Stakeholders: stakeholders interested in entrepreneurship, labour office representatives, policymakers responsible for the labour market
Citation: Dvouletý, O. & Nikulin, D. (2023). Dependent self-employed individuals: Are they different from paid employees?. Employee Relations, (online first), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2022-0502