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Wage Employment, Unemployment and Self-Employment across Countries

Author

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  • Poschke, Markus

    (McGill University)

Abstract
Poor countries have low wage employment and high self-employment. This paper shows that they also have high unemployment relative to wage employment, and that self-employment increases with this ratio. To understand the sources of these patterns, I build a search and matching model with choice between job search and self-employment and with learning about matches, and calibrate it to match all transition rates between wage employment, unemployment and self-employment as well as separation hazards by job duration, separately for all 37 countries with available data. Quantitative analysis of the model shows that labor market frictions affect self-employment as much as unemployment. Labor market frictions also reduce aggregate output, not only by raising unemployment, but also by worsening the average quality of both wage employment matches and active self-employment projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Poschke, Markus, 2023. "Wage Employment, Unemployment and Self-Employment across Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 16271, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16271
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    Cited by:

    1. Joao Galindo da Fonseca, 2022. "Unemployment, Entrepreneurship and Firm Outcomes," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 322-338, July.
    2. Alexander Bick & Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & David Lagakos & Hitoshi Tsujiyama, 2019. "Why are Average Hours Worked Lower in Richer Countries?," NBER Working Papers 26554, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Meango, Romuald, 2022. "The Puzzle of Educated Unemployment in West Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 15721, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Camila Cisneros-Acevedo & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2022. "Firms, policies, informality, and the labour market," Discussion Papers 2022-11, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    5. Finkelstein Shapiro, Alan & Mandelman, Federico S., 2021. "Digital adoption, automation, and labor markets in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Gu, Jiajia, 2021. "Financial intermediation and occupational choice," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Eliane El Badaoui & Olivier Bargain & Prudence Magejo & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2023. "A Search Model with Self-Employment and Heterogeneity in Managerial Ability," Working Papers hal-04159859, HAL.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "The role of financial inclusion in moderating the incidence of entrepreneurship on energy poverty in Ghana," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/035, African Governance and Development Institute..
    9. Nezih Guner & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2021. "Misallocation and inequality," Discussion Papers 2021/01, University of Nottingham, Centre for Finance, Credit and Macroeconomics (CFCM).
    10. Anurag Banerjee & Parantap Basu & Elisa Keller, 2023. "Cross‐country disparities in skill premium and skill acquisition," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(1), pages 179-198, January.
    11. Amodio, Francesco & Medina, Pamela & Morlacco, Monica, 2022. "Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development," IZA Discussion Papers 15477, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Kim, Jiwoon, 2022. "Factors for the Decline of the Self-employed in Korea: A Search and Matching Model Approach," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 44(2), pages 45-71.
    13. Karaivanov, Alexander & Yindok, Tenzin, 2022. "Involuntary entrepreneurship – Evidence from Thai urban data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    14. Feng, Ying & Ren, Jie, 2023. "Skill bias, financial frictions, and selection into entrepreneurship," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    15. Juan Herreno & Sergio Ocampo, 2020. "Self-Employment and Development," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 20209, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    16. Federico S. Mandelman & Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, 2019. "Digital Adoption, Automation, and Labor Markets in Developing and Emerging Economies," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2019-22, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    17. Herreño, Juan & Ocampo, Sergio, 2023. "The macroeconomic consequences of subsistence self-employment," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 91-106.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage employment; unemployment; self-employment; labor market frictions; occupational choice; productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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