Renaissance of Entrepreneurship? Some remarks and empirical evidence for Germany

The paper deals with margins of entrepreneurship where small business owners are almost working on their own having no or just a few employees and where one can find also people working with low returns and having firms without stability or prosperous dynamics. However, even the area of entrepreneurship at the margins seems to be a wide field. It highlights not only the broad margins of entrepreneurship but also the fluent boarders between entrepreneurship and the informal sector on the one side and the system of the labour market on the other. New firms – even those which are very successful at a later point of career – are almost created in an experimental period of testing market and product ideas in which business founders are still employed or registered as unemployed people. The practical starting-point of an entrepreneurial existence falls into a fluent continuum of different activities being closely connected to spheres of dependent work as employees or periods of seeking a new job during unemployment. With growing solo self-employment a new social phenomenon in the structure of the labour market and the division of occupations has emerged in which different social developments are overlapping each other. The question for the landscape of solo self-employment and related driving forces of their emergence is of crucial research interest: Must they be regarded primarily as a result of pushes by labour market deficiencies or are they a response to new life-styles and working demands which act as pulling factors into self-employment? In other words, does solo self-employment serve as a valve of a pressing labour market or must it be regarded more positively as a new option of the classic division of labour by which an increasing number of people find new self-reliant and also stable jobs? The idea of the paper is to discuss this particular issue of margins of entrepreneurship not only within the conventional scope of entrepreneurship discussion but within an integrated framework which combines entrepreneurship analysis with labour market research and studies on social stratification and social mobility. The paper will not come about with definite last answers but hopes to contribute to that debate by presenting better information.Self-employment; entrepreneurship; labour market; empirical analysis

Renaissance of Entrepreneurship? Some remarks and empirical evidence for Germany

The paper deals with margins of entrepreneurship where small business owners are almost working on their own having no or just a few employees and where one can find also people working with low returns and having firms without stability or prosperous dynamics. However, even the area of entrepreneurship at the margins seems to be a wide field. It highlights not only the broad margins of entrepreneurship but also the fluent boarders between entrepreneurship and the informal sector on the one side and the system of the labour market on the other. New firms – even those which are very successful at a later point of career – are almost created in an experimental period of testing market and product ideas in which business founders are still employed or registered as unemployed people. The practical starting-point of an entrepreneurial existence falls into a fluent continuum of different activities being closely connected to spheres of dependent work as employees or periods of seeking a new job during unemployment. With growing solo self-employment a new social phenomenon in the structure of the labour market and the division of occupations has emerged in which different social developments are overlapping each other. The question for the landscape of solo self-employment and related driving forces of their emergence is of crucial research interest: Must they be regarded primarily as a result of pushes by labour market deficiencies or are they a response to new life-styles and working demands which act as pulling factors into self-employment? In other words, does solo self-employment serve as a valve of a pressing labour market or must it be regarded more positively as a new option of the classic division of labour by which an increasing number of people find new self-reliant and also stable jobs? The idea of the paper is to discuss this particular issue of margins of entrepreneurship not only within the conventional scope of entrepreneurship discussion but within an integrated framework which combines entrepreneurship analysis with labour market research and studies on social stratification and social mobility. The paper will not come about with definite last answers but hopes to contribute to that debate by presenting better information

Der Strukturwandel der westdeutschen Binnenschiffahrt: Verdraengung e. Kleingewerbes als Ergebnis d. wirtschaftl. u. verkehrspolit. Entwicklung seit d. Kriegsende

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel C 149539 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Social inclusion and exclusion of consumption: on the connections between social class and differences in urban consumption and leisure patterns

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, D-21400 Kiel W 809 (28) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

The social embeddedness of consumption Towards the relationship of income and expenditures over time in Germany

'Ausgaben und deren Veraenderung im Zeitablauf sind Ausdruck des Lebensstandards von Individuen, Haushalten und der Gesellschaft, in der diese leben. Dennoch bezog sich die soziologische und oekonomische Analyse eher auf die Gueterproduktion denn auf deren Konsum, und Einkommen wurde als ein Mass zur Beschreibung der (oekonomischen) Wohlfahrt verwendet. Andererseits dienen die Ausgaben als Mass zur Beschreibung und Abschaetzung der Partizipation von Haushalten an der Wohlfahrt einer Gesellschaft. Und darin liegt das Interesse am Verhaeltnis zwischen Einkommen und Ausgaben begruendet. Es wird haeufig unterstellt, dass Ausgaben und Einkommen zwei Seiten derselben Medaille darstellen, die als 'soziale Ungleichheit.' bezeichnet wird. Diese Annahme impliziert eine Beziehung zwischen den beiden Masszahlen zur Beschreibung der Wohlfahrtsungleichheit. Die empirische Analyse basiert auf den Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichproben (EVS) der Jahre 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 und 1993 fuer Westdeutschland. Bei den EVS handelt es sich um repraesentative Querschnitterhebungen, die vom Statistischen Bundesamt durchgefuehrt werden. Auf der Grundlage dieser Daten wird versucht, Aussagen ueber die Beziehung zwischen Einkommen und Ausgaben zu treffen. Es werden vornehmlich Methoden der deskriptiven Statistik verwendet, um Alters-, Kohorten- und Periodeneffekte isolieren zu koennen. Weiterhin ermoeglicht die Verbindung der einzelnen EVS die Verwendung induktiver statistischer Methoden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Einkommen und Ausgaben nicht in einem festen Verhaeltnis zueinander stehen. Je hoeher die Einkommen sind, desto offener ist der Zusammenhang zur konkreten Ausgabenstruktur. Insgesamt betrachtet bedeutet dies, dass die soziale Organisation des Konsums fuer sich genommen als Forschungsgegenstand zur Erlangung von Informationen ueber den Lebensstandard von Individuen und Haushalten mit beruecksichtigt werden muss.' (Autorenreferat)'Expenditures and their patterns over time are expressions of the standard of living of individuals, households, and the society they live in. Nevertheless social and economic analysis focused rather an the analysis of production than on consumption, and income was widely used as a main indicator of (economic) well-being. On the other hand, expenditure regards as a measure to describe and estimate the participation of households in the wealth of nation. Therefore, there is an interest in the relationship of income and spending money. It is often considered that expenditure and income are the two sides of the same coin called 'social inequality'. This assumption implies a strong relationship between these two measures of welfare inequality. Due to the lack of longitudinal data in Germany, we used repeated cross-sectional data (RCS) in our empirical analysis which is based an the West German Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1993. The IES's are representative cross-sections of all West German households, collected by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Descriptive methods are used to separate age, cohort, and period effects just as the RCS enables us to use a linear model to shed some light an this issue. The analysis indicates that the relationship between income and expenditure is given but weak: The higher the income the looser the concrete expenditure structure in terms of real consumption is. All in all, the social organisation of consumption is a research object in itself to obtain information about the living standard of individuals and households.' (author's abstract)German title: Die soziale Einbettung des Konsums: das Verhaeltnis zwischen Einkommen und Ausgaben in Deutschland im ZeitverlaufAvailable from http://www.zes.uni-bremen.de/ / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Kontinuitaeten und Diskontinuitaeten in der Soziologie der Arbeitsteilung

UuStB Koeln(38)-940106446 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Struktureller Wandel selbstaendiger Erwerbsarbeit Analysen auf der Grundlage der Scientific Use Files der Mikrozensen

'Grundsaetzlich wird in der Literatur ein Anstieg an selbstaendig Erwerbstaetigen konstatiert. Dabei handelt es sich allerdings um Analysen, die einerseits querschnittsbezogen sind und andererseits wenig ins Detail gehen. Bei einer Analyse ist aber auch die zeitliche Entwicklung zu beachten, da ein struktureller Wandel sich ueber einen laengeren Zeitraum vollzieht. Hier bieten die Scientific Use Files der Mikrozensen einen Ansatzpunkt fuer tiefer gehende Analysen. Um ueber die Entwicklung im Bereich der selbstaendigen Erwerbstaetigkeit weitere Anhaltspunkte zu gewinnen, wurde anhand von Scientific Use Files aus den Jahren 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 bis 1998 und 2000 eine Zeitverlaufsanalyse durchgefuehrt. Die Fragen, denen in der Analyse nachgegangen wurde, sind: In welchen Berufsgruppen kam es zu signifikanten Veraenderungen bei den selbstaendig Erwerbstaetigen ueber den betrachteten Zeitraum? Hat sich die Entwicklung selbstaendiger Erwerbstaetigkeit in West- und Ostdeutschland anders vollzogen? Gab es eine geschlechtsspezifische Entwicklung? Insgesamt gesehen deutet sich an, dass der Uebergang in eine 'Informations- und Dienstleistungsgesellschaft' weder kontinuierlich noch in allen Dienstleistungsbereichen vergleichbar verlaeuft. Die Entwicklung ist gepraegt von erheblichen Veraenderungen im Zeitablauf. So kam es selbst bei Gruppen, die im Endeffekt ein ueberdurchschnittliches Wachstum hatten, zwischen den Jahren zu niedrigen und teilweise sogar zu negativen Aenderungsraten. Der Uebergang in eine Dienstleistungsgesellschaft vollzieht sich nicht ausschliesslich in 'neuen' Berufsfeldern, sondern geht mit einer teilweise ueberproportionalen Zunahme von Berufstaetigkeiten in klassischen Bereichen, insbesondere der Rechtsberatung und der Aerzte/innen, einher. Weiterhin zeigt die Analyse, dass in Deutschland zwischen 1991 bis 2000 eine bestaendige Zunahme selbstaendig Erwerbstaetiger erfolgte, wobei sich der Anteil von Einpersonenunternehmen um rund fuenf Prozentpunkte auf annaehernd 50 v.H. erhoehte. Dabei war die Entwicklung in West- und Ostdeutschland bis Mitte der 90er Jahre unterschiedlich und fuehrte zu einer Anpassung der ostdeutschen an die westdeutschen Strukturen. Hervorzuheben ist ferner, dass das Verhaeltnis von selbstaendig erwerbstaetigen Frauen zu Maennern (etwa 3 zu 7) ueber die Zeit relativ stabil geblieben ist. Es liegen somit keine Indizien fuer einen strukturellen Wandel vor, der zu einer Angleichung der Anzahl Selbstaendiger zwischen den Geschlechtern gefuehrt haette. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist eher als ein erster Schritt in Richtung einer umfassenden, die zahlreichen Facetten selbstaendiger Erwerbsarbeit beruecksichtigenden Analyse zu sehen, als dass sie eine die Entwicklung in den 90er Jahren abschliessend behandelnde Untersuchung darstellt. So kann sie als Anknuepfungspunkt fuer zahlreiche vertiefende und ergaenzende Arbeiten dienen.' (Autorenreferat)'In literature, a rise in the number of self-employed people is basically stated. The results are based on cross-section data from one year and for the most part the analyses are not very detailed. But in an analysis one also has to pay attention to the development over time, because a structural change will only show itself over a long time. To obtain further indications of the development within the field of self-employment, an analysis on the basis of the scientific use files from the years 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 to 1998 and 2000 was carried out. The questions, which were especially considered, are: In which professional group the development was significant? Were there differences in the development in West- and East-Germany? Was there a gender specific development? Overall, the analysis indicates, that the transition into an information- and service-oriented society is neither continuously nor the same in all services areas. The development is marked by dramatic changes over time. Even professional groups, which had an above average increase at the end, sometimes show little or partially negative growth rates. The transition into a service-oriented society takes place not solely in 'new' jobs, but on the contrary, it is a concomitant of a disproportionate rise in some classic independent professions, e.g. lawyers and physicians. Furthermore, the analysis shows the steady rise in the numbers of self-employed people in Germany between 1989 and 2000 with an increase of about five percentage point of the solo-self-employed people to roughly 50 percent. The development in West- and East-Germany was different until the mid-90s, which leads to an adjustment of the East-to the West-German structures. It is to emphasise, that the relation of self-employed women to self-employed men (3 to 7) is reasonably stable over the time period. So there are no indications of a structural change, with leads to an adaptation of the numbers of self-employed between the genders. The paper is rather a first step in the direction of a comprehensive study, which takes the numerous facets of self-employment into account, than a definitive analysis of the development of self-employed people in the 90s. It has to be seen as a starting point for more detailed and complementary analyses.' (author's abstract)Available from Universitaet Bremen, Zentrum fuer Sozialpolitik, Bremen (DE) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman