Characterisation of Self-Employment in Spain from a European Perspective

16 Pages Posted: 2 Jul 2019

See all articles by Pilar Garcia-Perea

Pilar Garcia-Perea

Banco de España

Concepción Román

University of Huelva - Economics and Statistics

Date Written: June 18, 2019

Abstract

In Spain, self-employment currently accounts for 16% of those employed, a proportion slightly higher than the EU average. Compared with the prevailing structure among employees, it is males, the over-50s, those with a low level of educational attainment and those employed in traditional sectors such as agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, transport and accommodation who are over-represented in this group. Relative to self-employed workers in the EU, self-employment in Spain accounts for a smaller proportion of the total in the liberal professions in services, generally associated with a higher level of skill. In Spain, the incidence of self-employment economically dependent on a single client is relatively moderate compared with other European countries; but the high incidence of the self-employed who choose to work as such out of necessity, given the lack of alternatives, is notable. Lastly, in all euro area countries, households with a self-employed family head are seen to be wealthier than those with a wage-earning family head, and Spain is in an intermediate position.

Keywords: self-employment, sole proprietor, employer

JEL Classification: J21, J23, H25

Suggested Citation

Garcia Perea, Pilar and Román, Concepción, Characterisation of Self-Employment in Spain from a European Perspective (June 18, 2019). Banco de Espana Article 11/19, June 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3413651

Pilar Garcia Perea (Contact Author)

Banco de España

Madrid 28014
Spain

Concepción Román

University of Huelva - Economics and Statistics ( email )

Huelva
Spain

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
92
Abstract Views
475
Rank
506,276
PlumX Metrics