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Business Ownership and Self-Employment in Developing Economies: The Colombian Case

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  • Ximena Pena Parga
  • Camilo Mondragón-Vélez
Abstract
We characterize entrepreneurship in developing economies through a case study for Colombia. We document self-employment and business ownership since the 1980s; while the relative size of these groups within the labor force is stable across time, they differ significantly in important observable dimensions such as education and business sector. We then study the motivations to become an entrepreneur. First, we analyze the transition into and out of potential forms of entrepreneurship by measuring the flows across occupations, and study the determinants of entry and exit into and out of self-employment and business ownership; there is surprisingly little transition between self-employment and business ownership. Second, we focus on the financial motivations by measuring the differences in earnings of self-employment and businessownership relative to salaried work, at the mean and along the distribution. There is a substantial earnings premium to become a business owner, but it is not financially attractive to become self-employed. The results of this paper suggest that while business ownership is what the literature associates with entrepreneurship, self-employment is basically a subsistence activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Ximena Pena Parga & Camilo Mondragón-Vélez, 2008. "Business Ownership and Self-Employment in Developing Economies: The Colombian Case," Documentos CEDE 4672, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:004672
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos Bozzoli & Tilman Brück & Nina Wald, 2013. "Self-employment and Conflict in Colombia," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 57(1), pages 117-142, February.
    2. Camilo Mondragón-Vélez & Ximena Peña & Daniel Wills, 2010. "Labor Market Rigidities and Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2010), pages 65-101, August.
    3. Floridi, A. & Demena, B.A. & Wagner, N., 2019. "Shedding light on the shadows of informality," ISS Working Papers - General Series 642, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    4. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "The Unofficial Economy and Economic Development," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(2 (Fall)), pages 275-363.
    5. Chawanote, Chayanee & Barrett, Christopher B., 2011. "Rural Non-farm Dynamics: Occupational Ladders and Earnings Mobility in Thailand," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103879, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Silvia Ardagna & Annamaria Lusardi, 2009. "Where does regulation hurt? Evidence from new businesses across countries," NBER Working Papers 14747, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Antoinette Schoar, 2010. "The Divide between Subsistence and Transformational Entrepreneurship," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(1), pages 57-81.
    8. Ibale, Douglas Amuli & Docquier, Frédéric & Iftikhar, Zainab, 2024. "Spatial Inequality, Poverty and Informality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. James Albrecht & Lucas Navarro & Susan Vroman, 2009. "The Effects of Labour Market Policies in an Economy with an Informal Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(539), pages 1105-1129, July.
    10. Silvia Ardagna & Annamaria Lusardi, 2010. "Explaining International Differences in Entrepreneurship: The Role of Individual Characteristics and Regulatory Constraints," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 17-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; self-employment; business ownership; transition prob-ability; earnings premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

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