It's the Opportunity Cost, Stupid! How Self-Employment Responds to Financial Incentives of Return, Risk and Skew

31 Pages Posted: 11 Dec 2011

See all articles by Peter H. G. Berkhout

Peter H. G. Berkhout

University of Amsterdam - SEO Economic Research

Joop Hartog

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB); Tinbergen Institute; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Mirjam van Praag

University of Amsterdam - Department of Economics; Copenhagen Business School; Tinbergen Institute; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

There is no robust empirical support for the effect of financial incentives on the decision to work in self-employment rather than as a wage earner. In the literature, this is seen as a puzzle. We offer a focus on the opportunity cost, i.e. the wages given up as an employee. Information on income from self-employment is of inferior quality and this is not just a problem for the outside researcher, it is an imminent problem of the individual considering self-employment. We also argue that it is not only the location of an income distribution that matters and that dispersion and (a)symmetry should not be ignored. We predict that higher mean, lower variance and higher skew in the wage distribution in a particular employment segment reduce the inclination to prefer self-employment above employee status. Using a sample of 56,000 recent graduates from a Dutch college or university, grouped in approximately 120 labor market segments, we find significant support for these propositions. The results survive various robustness checks on specifications and assumptions.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, self-employment, wage-employment, income distribution, income risk, income skew, income variance, occupational choice, labor market entry, labor market segments, opportunity cost

JEL Classification: J24, L26

Suggested Citation

Berkhout, Peter H. G. and Hartog, Joop and van Praag, Mirjam and van Praag, Mirjam, It's the Opportunity Cost, Stupid! How Self-Employment Responds to Financial Incentives of Return, Risk and Skew. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6166, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1970761 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1970761

Peter H. G. Berkhout (Contact Author)

University of Amsterdam - SEO Economic Research ( email )

Roetersstraat 29
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

Joop Hartog

University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) ( email )

Roetersstraat 11
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands

Tinbergen Institute

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Mirjam Van Praag

Copenhagen Business School ( email )

Kilevej 14A
Frederiksberg, 2000
Denmark

University of Amsterdam - Department of Economics ( email )

Roetersstraat 11
Amsterdam, 1018 WB
Netherlands
+31 20 525 4096 (Phone)
+31 20 525 4182 (Fax)

Tinbergen Institute

Gustav Mahlerlaan
Amsterdam
Netherlands

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 7 / 9
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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