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The Economic Impacts of Self-Employment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2015

Stephan J. Goetz ,
David A. Fleming  and
Anil Rupasingha
Stephan J. Goetz
Affiliation:
Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
David A. Fleming
Affiliation:
Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
Anil Rupasingha
Affiliation:
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
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Abstract

Even as self-employment continues to increase, policymakers remain largelyunaware of this trend and fail to see it as an opportunity for addressingenduring joblessness. In part, this is explained by limited data on theself-employed and by widespread perceptions that returns to self-employmentare low; that the self-employed are merely patching together piecemeal workopportunities requiring limited skills; and that there are no local economicimpacts or spillover benefits into other sectors. Contrary to theseperceptions, recent studies suggest that self-employment has tangiblepositive economic impacts not only on wage and salary employment but also onper capita income growth and poverty reduction. This article synthesizes thepertinent emerging literature and assesses dynamics of the lags involvedbetween self-employment shocks and subsequent employment growth.

Keywords

economic impactslaborrural developmentself-employmentJ54016R11
Type
Invited Paper Sessions
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , August 2012 , pp. 315 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2012

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