TY - JOUR

T1 - Not so risky business?

T2 - How social policies shape the perceived feasibility of self-employment

AU - Rapp, Carolin

AU - Shore, Jennifer

AU - Tosun, Jale

N1 - doi: 10.1177/0958928717711973

PY - 2018/5/1

Y1 - 2018/5/1

N2 - This article addresses ongoing debates about whether the welfare state hinders or fosters self-employment. Starting a business can be an inherently risky undertaking and is thus not a feasible option for all people. Policies that have the potential to shoulder some of this risk can be particularly important for the decision to enter into self-employment. Taking individual differences in terms of risk tolerance into account, we focus on unemployment protection for the self-employed ? a type of risk which is particularly difficult to privately insure oneself against ? in order to investigate the ways in which policy can shape people?s perceptions of self-employment. We combine individual-level data from a 2009 Flash Eurobarometer survey with country-level data on unemployment policies in Europe in a multilevel design, finding that the presence of unemployment protection for the self-employed positively influences individual perceptions of the feasibility of self-employment. Risk-tolerant individuals, moreover, are found to be even more likely to assess self-employment as a feasible option in countries that offer unemployment protection to the self-employed.

AB - This article addresses ongoing debates about whether the welfare state hinders or fosters self-employment. Starting a business can be an inherently risky undertaking and is thus not a feasible option for all people. Policies that have the potential to shoulder some of this risk can be particularly important for the decision to enter into self-employment. Taking individual differences in terms of risk tolerance into account, we focus on unemployment protection for the self-employed ? a type of risk which is particularly difficult to privately insure oneself against ? in order to investigate the ways in which policy can shape people?s perceptions of self-employment. We combine individual-level data from a 2009 Flash Eurobarometer survey with country-level data on unemployment policies in Europe in a multilevel design, finding that the presence of unemployment protection for the self-employed positively influences individual perceptions of the feasibility of self-employment. Risk-tolerant individuals, moreover, are found to be even more likely to assess self-employment as a feasible option in countries that offer unemployment protection to the self-employed.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Personality

KW - risk

KW - self-employment

KW - unemployment insurance

KW - welfare policy

U2 - 10.1177/0958928717711973

DO - 10.1177/0958928717711973

M3 - Journal article

VL - 28

SP - 143

EP - 160

JO - Journal of European Social Policy

JF - Journal of European Social Policy

SN - 0958-9287

IS - 2

M1 - 5

ER -