Self-employment and Subjective Well-Being
Zimmermann, K. F. (ed., 2021), Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics, Dordrecht: Springer
36 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2021
Date Written: January 02, 2021
Abstract
Self-employment contributes to employment growth and innovativeness and many individuals want to become self-employed due to the autonomy and flexibility it brings. Using “subjective well-being” as a broad summary measure that evaluates an individual’s experience of being self-employed, the chapter discusses evidence and explanations why self-employment is positively associated with job satisfaction, even though the self-employed often earn less than their employed peers, work longer hours and experience more stress and higher job demands. Despite being more satisfied with their jobs, the self-employed do not necessarily enjoy higher overall life satisfaction, which is due to heterogeneity of types of self-employment, as well as motivational factors, work characteristics and institutional setups across countries.
Keywords: self-employment, entrepreneurship, subjective well-being, job satisfaction, life satisfaction
JEL Classification: L26, J24, J28
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation