Moreover, labour market institutions that decrease the flexibility of paid employment tend to increase the incidence of dependent solo self-employment. The wealthiest countries have a lower incidence of this group of workers, mainly if they are involuntary self-employed. The results indicate that involuntary self-employment, mostly due to being required by previous employer, significantly increases the probability of being dependent solo versus non-dependent self-employed. For that, we account for the reasons why they enter into self-employment (voluntarily or involuntarily either out of necessity or requested by the former employer). Using the unique information available in the 2017 European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) for 29 countries, we can properly identify the dependent solo self-employed and analyse to what extent they behave in accordance with an occupational choice model when making their self-employment decision. This article investigates the degree of involuntariness in the entrepreneurial activity of the dependent solo self-employed, as well as its association with the country’s wealth and labour market institutions. It therefore behoves entrepreneurship scholars to have a robust understanding of this previously overlooked type of self-employment if we are to be able to provide guidance to policymakers and self-employment support services. However, it is expected that home-based self-employment will grow significantly following the pandemic in response to increasing acceptance of home-working. The data used in this study predates the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results of our analysis vindicate the choices of the home-based self-employed, by demonstrating that basing a business in the home is a rational choice based on an intersection of household and employment characteristics. Despite being responsible for some of the world’s most innovative and successful businesses, home-based businesses are often denigrated as lacking ambition or growth potential. Our validated model demonstrates how and why antecedent and current household and employment factors, but not personal factors, associated with being home-based interact and provide constitutive affordances that result in a setting for self-employment that is unique in more fundamental ways than simply the home location of the business. We validate our proposed model by drawing on quantitative data from a large-scale, longitudinal, UK-based, social studies dataset. We address this gap by drawing from established entrepreneurial theory to propose and validate a more complete theoretical model that combines personal, household and employment influences. Finally, we also find various differences according to types of entrepreneurs.ĭespite the significant economic, innovative and social contributions of home-based self-employment, it is an under-researched and under-theorised area. Moreover, we find that increased ICT usage by female entrepreneurs can help considerably in closing the earnings gap, with an estimated realistic potential reduction of the gap of 6.7 percent point (about one quarter of the gap). Our results reveal the existence of a ceteris paribus gender earnings gap in entrepreneurship of about 24%. ICT usage may help women to overcome gender-specific constraints on entrepreneurial behaviours and performance. In addition, this study explores the role of information and communications technology (ICT) usage as a potential instrument to close earnings gaps between female and male entrepreneurs. This study aims to fill this important gap by examining the gender earnings gap among entrepreneurs using data collected from over 5000 self-employed entrepreneurs in the European Working Conditions Survey. It is unknown if such gap also exists among entrepreneurs, who are playing a significant role in our economic activities. A gender earnings gap has been found among employees in the organizational workplace context.

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