Who is Self-Employed in France, the United Kingdom and West Germany?

Patterns of Male Non-Agricultural Self-Employment

Henning Lohmann, Silvia Luber and Walter Müller

Arbeitspapiere - Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung, Nr. 11, 1999

ISSN 1437-8574

Abstract: This paper investigates the patterns of male non-agricultural self-employment and how they have changed over time in France, Germany and the UK. It is argued that the development of self-employment in the three countries is based on specific institutional frameworks resulting in different opportunities for the self-employed. Thus, we expect that the dynamics of growth, the sectors of activity and the socio-demographic characteristics of the self-employed differ between the countries. The empirical analyses are based on the national Labour Force Surveys of 1984 and 1994 (Germany 1982 and 1995). Our findings indicate that educational requirements differ fundamentally between the three countries and along industrial branches. Further, we could observe some country-specific developments in some sectors of activity but also a remarkable number of common general patterns in the development of self-employment.

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