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

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

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
• Electronic ISSN: 2325-8012
• 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