24 research outputs found
The distribution and re-distribution of income of selfemployed as freelancers and entrepreneurs in Europe
The economic transformations of modern industrial societies have changed the labor markets in terms of
industrial relations and occupational structure. The transformation of the traditional welfare state, the
deregulation of the labor markets, the technological change and the reorganization of industrial structures
influenced strongly the attitude of individuals towards their preferred labor contract. The structural change of the
occupational structure was one of the results of this tendency. In particular the self-employed and freelancers
have been affected and are a driving factor of labor market changings. On the one side the value of autonomy
regarding industrial relations is becoming more important for employees. On the other side employers want to
get rid of social security contributions. As a result the multitudinousness of these professions increased.
The increasing varieties of occupations among the self-employed and freelancers influenced strongly their
income distribution. Recent studies for Germany have shown a great dispersion and a heterogeneous structure of
earnings in particular of freelancers (liberal professions) and self-employed. Though there are a variety of
international income distribution studies, but – as to the best to our knowledge – no study focusing on the selfemployed
and freelancers within the total labor force. In our study we concentrate on the income distribution of
self-employed and freelancers in different European countries. Based on the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)
we analyze five different European countries and the United States structured by different types of welfare states
according to Esping Anderson. We analyze income distributional aspects, an occupational decomposition à la
Shorrocks, and re-distributional effects of the tax and transfer systems