Search results

1 – 10 of 282
Book part
Publication date: 2 August 2021

Ikechukwu D. Nwaka and Kalu E. Uma

Controversy in the literature exists over whether self-employment is driven by worker’s deliberate entrepreneurial choices (pull factors) or an indeliberate subsistence employment…

Abstract

Controversy in the literature exists over whether self-employment is driven by worker’s deliberate entrepreneurial choices (pull factors) or an indeliberate subsistence employment option (push factors) in developing countries. It is therefore very important to investigate whether the self-employed are the dynamic entrepreneurial group or the subsistence-oriented group. In this chapter, the authors examine the driving forces behind the plausible growth of self-employment in urban and rural Nigeria by analyzing the self-employment choices as a function of employment’s differences in predicted earnings, human capital, demographic and family characteristics. Using the 2010/2011 and 2012/2013 waves of the General Household Survey Panel data for Nigeria, this chapter utilizes the Random Effects Regression Models (OLS and Probit Models). This chapter finds that the predicted individual earning differences between self- and paid-employment has a negative significant effect on self-employment choices – contrary to developed countries’ evidence. In other words, overwhelmingly the poor are “entrepreneurs.” This therefore means that self-employment choice is driven by the necessity of survival – the subsistence self-employed groups rather than the dynamic entrepreneurial hypothesis. The implication of these finding is unique and interesting for an African country such as Nigeria where the self-employees are vulnerable to poverty and perhaps an involuntary employment option conditioned by economic failures.

Article
Publication date: 3 September 2018

Tolu Olarewaju

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the occupational status and entrepreneurship research in developing countries by proposing that there are implications for household…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the occupational status and entrepreneurship research in developing countries by proposing that there are implications for household consumption depending on the occupational status proportion of households. When the occupational proportion of the household changes, household consumption is affected. This effect also changes depending on what quantile level the household is in terms of household consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper makes use of OLS and quantile regressions to examine 6,919 households comprising 40,294 individuals from the 2009 Nigerian Living standards measurement survey.

Findings

The paper finds that there are implications for household consumption based on the proportion of individuals in each occupational category. The contributions of each employment proportion changes at different quantiles with self-employed individuals increasing household consumption at the lower quantiles but reducing household consumption at the upper quantiles. Crucially, having a higher proportion of unemployed individuals in the household is oftentimes better than having a higher proportion of own account self-employed individuals.

Research limitations/implications

This paper offers new insights into how occupation proportion influences household consumption in developing countries. As a result, the household could seek to organise its members in such a way as to maximise combined household consumption, as diverse occupational statuses contribute differently to the household consumption at different quantile levels. The nature of the data used in this study however does not allow for causality tests.

Practical implications

The proportion of employment statuses in the household has implications for household consumption and so the mix of employment in the household is important. The self-employed could also be involved in activities to enhance household consumption that are not captured by labour income. However, self-employment does not seem to always have a positive effect on household consumption and sometimes unemployment might be better.

Originality/value

The paper provides a new way to view the household as an organising entity in terms of how it can allocate employment proportions to maximise household consumption.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 26 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 February 2020

Éva Berde and László Tőkés

The purpose of this paper is to show that gig jobs could be considered an alternative way, albeit not the very best, to give work opportunities to older people. This could offset…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that gig jobs could be considered an alternative way, albeit not the very best, to give work opportunities to older people. This could offset the continuously decreasing income from the pay-as-you-go pension system, which remains the main source of income for older Hungarians.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the most important aspects of employment of older people and highlights the digital divide which still restricts their participation in the labor market. The paper analyzes data from the Hungarian carpooling company Oszkár and compares it with official statistical data from the Hungarian labor market, focusing on the dynamics of the employment of older persons.

Findings

The findings show that the alienation of older workers from the gig economy is just transitory, and that an increasing proportion of older gig workers can be anticipated.

Research limitations/implications

Compiling data on the gig economy faces a number of obstacles, as enterprises are disincentivized from revealing all their data.

Social implications

Older people are more likely to be employed in lower-quality jobs, such as own-account self-employed. They are also increasingly more likely to become gig workers.

Originality/value

The paper articulates the importance of remaining active as one ages and moreover challenges the traditional belief that gig jobs mainly offer opportunities to the younger generations.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2020

Ondřej Dvouletý and Marko Orel

This study aims to extend the existing body of literature on the individual-level determinants of self-employed persons with (employer entrepreneurs) and without employees (solo…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to extend the existing body of literature on the individual-level determinants of self-employed persons with (employer entrepreneurs) and without employees (solo self-employed individuals) from the perspective of four post-communist economies (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).

Design/methodology/approach

The methodological approach is based on the three harmonised waves (2005, 2010 and 2015) of the European Survey on Working Conditions (EWCS). Multi-variate logistic regression models are used to determine the individual-level differences among employees, solo self-employed individuals and job creators in the selected group of countries.

Findings

The results show significant differences among employees, solo self-employed individuals and job creators, especially when it comes to the role of age, gender, education, previous experience, number of working hours and their determination. Job creators in Visegrád countries have, on average, more years of experience, and higher levels of education (tertiary), than wage-employees.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a series of recommendations for future research on the role of family- and household-related characteristics, entrepreneurship-specific education and migration background.

Originality/value

The previous research on individual determinants of entrepreneurial engagement in Visegrád region was mainly based on the data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. This study offers a novel perspective based on the EWCS data.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 11 May 2021

Marleen Damman and Monika Von Bonsdorff

174

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Book part
Publication date: 16 November 2016

Aysit Tansel and Elif Oznur Acar

This study investigates the formal/informal employment earnings gap in Turkey. We focus on the earnings differentials that can be explained by observable characteristics and…

Abstract

This study investigates the formal/informal employment earnings gap in Turkey. We focus on the earnings differentials that can be explained by observable characteristics and unobservable time-invariant individual heterogeneity. We first, estimate the standard Mincer earnings equations using ordinary least squares (OLS), controlling for individual, household, and job characteristics. Next we use, panel data and the quantile regression (QR) techniques in order to account for unobserved factors which might affect the earnings and the intrinsic heterogeneity within formal and informal sectors. OLS results confirm the existence of an informal sector penalty almost half of which is explained by observable variables. We find that formal-salaried workers are paid significantly higher than their informal counterparts and of the self-employed confirming the heterogeneity within the informal employment. QR results show that pay differentials are not uniform along the earnings distribution. In contrast to the mainstream literature which views informal self-employment as the upper-tier and wage-employment as the lower-tier, we find that self-employment corresponds to the lower-tier in the Turkish labor market. Finally, fixed effects estimation indicates that unobserved individual characteristics combined with controls for observable characteristics explain the pay differentials between formal and informal employment entirely in the total and the female sample. However, informal sector penalty persists in the male sample.

Details

Inequality after the 20th Century: Papers from the Sixth ECINEQ Meeting
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-993-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2010

Terrie Lynn Thompson

In order to explore how informal pedagogical moments are being renegotiated by the technology woven into people's lives, this paper aims to focus on online communities as sites of…

Abstract

Purpose

In order to explore how informal pedagogical moments are being renegotiated by the technology woven into people's lives, this paper aims to focus on online communities as sites of learning; more specifically, the informal work‐related learning practices of self‐employed workers in these cyberspaces.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the notion of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) from situated learning theory in order to examine the development of work‐learning practices online. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with own‐account self‐employed workers (contractors and consultants who do not have staff) about their engagement in online communities for work learning.

Findings

Findings indicate that these self‐employed workers were learning work practices, the viability of doing particular work, how to participate in online communities for work learning, and how to participate in fluid knowledges. The significance of developing a work‐learning practice is emphasized, as is the impact of multiple and peripheral positionings across on‐ and offline spaces.

Research limitations/implications

Web technologies and shifting configurations of online collectives shake up notions of expertise, beliefs about who is able to produce, and consume information, and where one locates themselves, in order to build work‐learning practices. Multiple positioning across several online communities, and ways of participating that are peripheral, partial and part‐time warrant further examination.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is its exploration of how self‐employed workers develop an online work‐learning practice and the tensions that these practices bring. The paper also attempts to discuss the utility of LPP for contemporary learning practices.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 22 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 December 2017

Michael Rogan, Sally Roever, Martha Alter Chen and Françoise Carré

In this chapter, we aim to illustrate some of the forms taken by informal employment in the global south and how these can best be understood by adopting a wider analytical lens…

Abstract

In this chapter, we aim to illustrate some of the forms taken by informal employment in the global south and how these can best be understood by adopting a wider analytical lens than has been applied in much of the precarious employment literature. We draw on the findings of a recent study of the working conditions of urban informal workers from 10 cities in the global south. The study consisted of focus groups (15 in each city) conducted through the framework of a participatory informal economy appraisal as well as a survey of 1,957 home-based workers, street vendors, and waste pickers. Our findings illustrate a number of ways in which these three groups of informal workers are embedded within the formal economy. While they are not engaged in wage employment, they play subordinate roles to both formal sector firms within global production networks and unequal production relations and to the state through, inter alia, constrained access to public spaces and regulation. In order to interpret these findings, we apply Agarwala’s (2009) “relational” lens to demonstrate how risks and costs are transferred to workers who constitute the “real economy” in much of the global south. Given the often disguised connections between informal employment and the formal economy, this approach also provides a bridge to understanding precarious working conditions and the effects of globalization outside of the industrialized north.

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1993

Francis Green, Harvey Krahn and Johnny Sung

Non‐standard forms of work figure prominently in debates about theflexibility of the labour force. Non‐standard employment, in the form ofpart‐time jobs, own‐account…

Abstract

Non‐standard forms of work figure prominently in debates about the flexibility of the labour force. Non‐standard employment, in the form of part‐time jobs, own‐account self‐employment, temporary working and multiple job holding has been increasing in many industrialized countries. Contrasts its prevalence in 1989 in Canada and the UK, through a systematic secondary analysis of the Canadian General Social Survey and the UK Labour Force Survey. While the overall frequency of non‐standard work is the same in the two countries, notable cross‐national differences are observed when age, gender and industry are introduced, and when the different forms of non‐standard work are examined separately. Among the more noteworthy differences is the higher proportion of employed British women in non‐standard jobs.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 14 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2011

Terrie Lynn Thompson

This paper seeks to explore how workers engage in informal online communities for work‐learning. Although online communities may facilitate learning and knowledge creation, much…

1847

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore how workers engage in informal online communities for work‐learning. Although online communities may facilitate learning and knowledge creation, much of the literature is situated in formal online courses, suggesting a need to better understand the nuances of more informal learning spaces online.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 11 own‐account self‐employed workers (contractors and consultants who do not have staff).

Findings

Participants engaged in ways that fit with expectations, leveraged fluidity, played with boundaries, and meshed with work. These workers attempted to (re)configure online spaces to create the degree of connection and learning needed, although not always successfully. This study explores how participants participated in much less pedagogically inscribed spaces and foregrounds several issues related to online engagement: managing exposure, force‐feeding community, and navigating multi‐purpose spaces.

Research limitations/implications

There are indications that these workers are moving toward more networked architectures of online participation. How the notion of online community continues to evolve warrants further research.

Practical implications

Although turning to an online community is sometimes the only viable learning option, online presence brings challenges to be addressed by practitioners and policy makers, including attending to the nature of relationships in and between different cyberspaces, information and media literacies required, and the implications of such extensive connectivity between people and their web‐technologies.

Originality/value

By exploring how adults reach out to others in “informal” online communities for learning purposes, this paper encourages researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and citizens to consider tensions and questions associated with cyberspace collectives.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

1 – 10 of 282