How do country R&D change the allocation of self-employment across different types?

Abstract

We investigate the impact of country R&D on the allocation of self-employment across different types, where types are identified based on occupational status and start-up motive. We first conduct a literature review based on which we consider the self-employed with employees to be of higher 'quality' (in terms of their overall contribution to the economy) compared to independent own-account workers, who in turn may be considered of higher 'quality' than dependent self-employed workers. Similarly, we also consider opportunity self-employed to be of higher 'quality' than necessity self-employed. Our empirical analysis then shows that the level of a country's R&D expenditures increases the share of self-employed with employees and that of opportunity self-employed (i.e. the self-employment types associated with higher 'quality') at the cost of the shares of dependent self-employed and necessity self-employed. Higher R&D expenditures at the country level thus increase the quality of self-employment in the country.

Individual determinants of entrepreneurship in Visegrád countries: Reflection on GEM data from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia

“…Rees & Shah, 1986;Van Praag & Ophem, 1995;Gerber, 2001;Douglas & Shepherd, 2002;Parker, 2004;Ekelund et al, 2005;Block & Sandner, 2009), the current stream of the literature acknowledges (e.g. Simoes et al, 2016;Bögenhold, 2019;Bögenhold et al, 2019;Burke et al, 2019;Van Stel & Van der Zwan, 2019), that there are different types of self-employed individuals in the economy, which should be differently treated empirically. The most fundamental distinction (i.e.…”

Knowledge frontiers and boundaries in entrepreneurship research

“…The ninth paper is BHow do country R&D change the allocation of self-employment across different types?b y Burke et al (2019). The study treats country R&D as a form of knowledge spillover and tests its effect on the allocation of self-employment in the economy.…”

Do regional self-employment rates converge in the UK? Empirical evidence using club-clustering algorithm

“…The types of self-employment driving the growth patterns merit further investigation. As Burke et al (2019) argue, self-employed with employees and opportunity self-employed make a greater economic contribution than own-account workers or necessity entrepreneurs. If a greater proportion of the self-employed in high growth regions are opportunity self-employed, or self-employed with employees, economic growth will be stronger.…”

“…National differences have been found too. Burke et al (2019) found that country-level investment in research and development influences not just self-employment, but the type of self-employment. Greater R&D spending was associated with greater levels of self-employed workers with their own employees and opportunity self-employment.…”