Explaining international variations in self-employment : Evidence from a panel of OECD countries

Parker, S.C.; Robson, M.T.

Explaining international variations in self-employment : Evidence from a panel of OECD countries

Parker, S.C.; Robson, M.T.

Authors

S.C. Parker

Dr Martin Robson m.t.robson@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data from 1972 to 1996 reveals substantial differences in the levels and trends of self-employment rates across countries. This article uses recently developed panel integration and cointegration techniques to explore the determinants of aggregate self-employment rates. We find that within the panel, self-employment rates are positively and significantly related to personal income tax rates and negatively and significantly related to the unemployment benefit replacement rate. This accords a central role to government tax and transfer policies, in contrast to nonrobust influences from macroeconomic variables, which have been widely used in previous studies.

Citation

Parker, S., & Robson, M. (2004). Explaining international variations in self-employment : Evidence from a panel of OECD countries. Southern Economic Journal, 71(2), 287-301

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Oct 1, 2004
Deposit Date	Aug 29, 2008
Publicly Available Date	Aug 29, 2008
Journal	Southern Economic Journal
Print ISSN	0038-4038
Publisher	Southern Economic Association
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	71
Issue	2
Pages	287-301
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1625080
Publisher URL	http://www.utc.edu/Outreach/SouthernEconomicAssociation/southern-economic-journal.html