This book presents results of a cross-national research project on self-employment in eleven advanced economies and demonstrates how and why the practice is reemerging in modern societies. While traditional forms of self-employment, such as skilled crafts work and shop keeping, are in decline, they are being replaced by self-employment in both professional and unskilled occupations. Differences in self-employment across societies depend on the extent to which labor markets are regulated and the degree to which intergenerational family relationships are a primary factor structuring social organization. For each of the eleven countries analyzed, the book highlights the extent to which social background, educational attainment, work history, family status, and gender affect the likelihood that an individual will enter--and continue--a particular type of self-employment. While involvement with self-employment is becoming more common, it is occurring for individuals in activities that are more diverse, unstable and transitory than in years past.

Taken together, the thirteen chapters of thisbook shed light on the factors leading individuals into self-employment.The volume examines the impact of economic change on the character,composition, and stability of self-employment.A theoretical framework fora cross-national study of self-employment dynamics is presented, as is a reviewof the changing employment structures and the opportunities and constraintsassociated with self-employment. (SAA) Table of Contents Trends in Self-Employment in Germany: Different Types, DifferentDevelopments? Henning Lohmann and Silvia Luber Entries and Exits from Self-Employment in France over the Last Twenty Years,Thomas Amossé and Dominique Goux Dutch Self-Employment between 1980 and 1997, Boris F. Blumberg and PaulM. de Graaf Self-Employment in the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s, NigelMeager and Peter Bates Entrepreneurs and Laborers: Two Sides of Self-Employment Activity in theUnited States, Richard Arum Self-Employment in Australia, 1980-1999, M.D.R. Evans and JoannaSikora Winners or Losers? Entry and Exit into Self-Employment in Hungary: 1980s and1990s, Péter Róbert and Erzsébet Bukodi Three Forms of Emergent Self-Employment in Post-Soviet Russia: Entry andExit Patterns by Gender, Theodore P. Gerber Self-Employment in Italy: Scaling the Class Barriers, Paolo Barbieri andIvano Bison Entry into and Exit from Self-Employment in Japan, Hiroshi Ishida On One's Own: Self-Employment Activity in Taiwan, Wei-hsin Yu andKuo-Hsien Su The Reemergence of Self-Employment: Comparative Findings and EmpiricalPropositions, Richard Arum and Walter Müller.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this Research Handbook examines the shifting global landscape of self-employment. It provides an authoritative overview of key theoretical perspectives and empirical findings in the field, and presents evidence-based policy responses to the multifaceted nature of modern self-employment.

Special edition of the Federal Register, containing a codification of documents of general applicability and future effect ... with ancillaries.