The Impact of Multimorbidity on Labor Force Participation Among the Middle-Aged and Older Working Population in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: Multimorbidity, known as multiple chronic conditions (MCC), is the coexistence of two or more chronic health conditions (CHC). The near-retirement-age population with MCC is more likely to experience discontinued labor force participation (LFP). Our objective was to evaluate the impact of MCC on LFP among adults aged 50-64 and to explore heterogeneous effects between self-employed and non-self-employed workers. METHODS: We constructed our sample using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) from 1996 to 2018. We adopted an individual fixed-effect (F.E.) model and propensity score matching (PSM) to measure the impact of MCC on the probability of being employed and changes in annual work hours. RESULTS: 50.5% of respondents have MCC. Individuals with MCC exhibit a predicted probability of being employed that is 9.3 percentage points (p < .01, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: -0.109, -0.078) lower than those without MCC. Compared with non-CHC, MCC significantly reduced annual working hours by 6.1% (p < .01, 95% CI: -0.091, -0.036) in the F.E. model and by 4.9% (p < .01, 95% CI: -0.064, -0.033) in PSM estimation. The effect is more pronounced for the self-employed with MCC, who have 13.0% (p < .05, 95% CI: -0.233, -0.026) fewer annual work hours than non-CHC based on the FE model and 13.4% (p < .01, 95% CI: -0.197, -0.070) in PSM estimation. DISCUSSION: MCC significantly reduces LFP compared with non-MCC. MCC has a heterogeneous impact across occupational types. It is important to support the near-retirement-age working population with multimorbidity through effective clinical interventions and workplace wellness policies to help manage health conditions and remain active in the labor market.

Self-employed and stressed out? The impact of stress and stress management on entrepreneurs' mental health and performance.

Introduction: Entrepreneurs play a central role in economic and social stability, yet the start-up rate in Germany has declined in recent years, possibly due to the stress associated with entrepreneurial endeavors. Stressors such as financial uncertainty and time pressure are prevalent among entrepreneurs and negatively affect their psychological well-being. However, research on stress management strategies among self-employed individuals remains limited. Methods: This pilot study conducted a quantitative analysis with 117 self-employed participants in Germany. The study focused on typical entrepreneurial work demands and selected stress coping mechanisms. Results: The analysis revealed a significant correlation between quantitative demands and mental exhaustion. Furthermore, a high positive correlation between presenteeism and workload suggests that presenteeism may partially explain the variance in workload. These findings underscore how high job demands can lead to self-endangering behaviors that are detrimental to mental health. Discussion: Although no significant moderating effect of proactive coping on the relationship between job demands and mental exhaustion was observed, significant negative correlations between proactive coping and both job demands and mental exhaustion suggest a potential protective role of proactive coping against work-related stress. This study highlights the importance of understanding stress coping strategies among self-employed individuals and their impact on entrepreneurial success and mental well-being. Further research in this area is warranted to develop effective interventions to support the well-being and productivity of self-employed individuals in Germany.

Examining the health and wellness of solo self-employed workers through narratives of precarity: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, there has been a significant transformation in the world of work that is characterized by a shift from traditional manufacturing and managerial capitalism, which offered stable full-time employment, to new forms of entrepreneurial capitalism. This new paradigm involves various forms of insecure, contingent, and non-standard work arrangements. Within this context, there has been a noticeable rise in Self-Employed individuals, exhibiting a wide range of -working arrangements. Despite numerous investigations into the factors driving individuals towards Self-Employment and the associated uncertainties and insecurities impacting their lives and job prospects, studies have specifically delved into the connection between the precarious identity of Self-Employed workers and their overall health and well-being. This exploratory study drew on a 'precarity' lens to make contributions to knowledge about Self-Employed workers, aiming to explore how their vulnerable social position might have detrimental effects on their health and well-being. METHODS: Drawing on in-depth interviews with 24 solo Self-Employed people in Ontario (January - July 2021), narrative thematic analysis was conducted based on participants' narratives of their work experiences. The dataset was analyzed with the support of NVIVO qualitative data analysis software to elicit narratives and themes. FINDINGS: The findings showed that people opt into Self-Employment because they prefer flexibility and autonomy in their working life. However, moving forward, in the guise of flexibility, they encounter a life of precarity, in terms of job unsustainability, uncertainties, insecurities, unstable working hours and income, and exclusion from social benefits. As a result, the health and well-being of Self-Employed workers are adversely affected by anger, anomie, and anxiety, bringing forward potential risks for a growing population. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Neoliberalism fabricates a 'precariat' Self-Employed class. This is a social position that is vague, volatile, and contingent, that foreshadows potential threats of the health and wellbeing of a growing population in the changing workforce. The findings in this research facilitate some policy implications and practices at the federal or provincial government level to better support the health and wellbeing of SE'd workers.

Flourish, fight or flight: health in self-employment over time-associations with individual and business resources.

PURPOSE: Using COR theory to study developments of health and other key resources in self-employed workers in Sweden over 6 years, this study: (1) explored whether the heterogenous group of self-employed workers contained subgroups with different health trajectories, (2) investigated whether these were more typical for certain individuals (with respect to age, gender, sector, education, employment status), and (3) compared the different health trajectories regarding resource development in mental well-being, business resources, employment status, work ability. METHOD: The study used data from the Swedish longitudinal occupational survey of health (SLOSH) and included participants working as self-employed or combiner (N = 2642). RESULT: Five trajectories were identified with latent class growth curve model analysis (LCGM). Two health trajectories with (1) very good, respective (2) good stable health (together comprising 78.5% of the participants), (3) one with moderate stable health (14.8%), (4) one with a U-shaped form (1.9%), and (5) one with low, slightly increasing health (4.7%). The first two trajectories flourish: they maintained or increased in all key resources and were more likely to remain self-employed. Trajectories three and five consist of those who fight to maintain or increase their resources. Workers in the U-shaped health trajectory show signs of fight and flight after loss in health and other key resources. CONCLUSIONS: Studying subgroups with different resource developments over time was suitable to understand heterogeneity in self-employed workers. It also helped to identify vulnerable groups that may benefit from interventions to preserve their resources.

Teaching social business to Thai students: A case of LGBTIQ+ social business.

This paper examined the learning experiences of a group of undergraduate business students from a Thai business school in a social business course. The key point to examine in this study is learning and teaching approaches for social business education that can promote understanding of gender diversity. To understand the experiences of stakeholders in social business education, a qualitative approach was adopted wherein students, teaching staff and social entrepreneurs engaged with the researcher in a real-time, hands-on social business environment. We collected secondary data from assignments, feedback, and presentations from students and their social business coaches. We also collected primary data in the form of personal interviews with two social entrepreneurs who coached students in this course. The results suggest that the development of pedagogy for social business requires multidisciplinary collaboration and codesign among course coordinators, teachers, social business, and students. We also summarized four appropriate learning approaches, LGBTIQ + social business, in the Thai higher education context: advocacy, problem-based, research-based and practical-operational approaches. We suggest that social business should also be taught by academic staff and industry representatives to help students in the learning process. This study also suggests that a student-centered approach can help students synergize social impacts with the financial returns of social business by adopting inquiry-based activities, role plays, and talking with LGBTIQ + social entrepreneurs.

[Status quo of urological residency training in Germany-a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis]. / Status quo der urologischen Weiterbildung in Deutschland ­ eine SWOT-Analyse ("strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats").

BACKGROUND: Urological residency training is a decisive step on the urological career path. The aim of this review is to develop strategies and approaches to actively shape, improve and further develop urological residency training. METHODS: With the help of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, the status quo of urological residency training in Germany is analyzed in a structured manner. RESULTS: Strengths of urological residency training incorporate the attractiveness of the specialty itself, and the residency training curriculum in urology ("Weiterbildungscurriculum Urologie", WECU), including the networking of inpatient and outpatient training and accompanying internal and external further training. The German Society of Residents in Urology (GeSRU) also provides a networking platform for residents. Weaknesses include country-specific differences and a lack of checkpoints during residency training. Opportunities for urological continuing education arise from freelance work, digitalization, and technical and medical progress. In contrast, the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic, with still limited staff and surgical capacities, an increased psychosocial workload, and the rising number of outpatient treatments in urology pose threats for urological residency programs. CONCLUSIONS: With the help of a SWOT analysis, factors for the further development of urological residency training can be identified. In order to provide high-quality residency training in the future, strengths and opportunities should be consolidated and weaknesses and threats should be addressed at an early stage.

Factors Influencing Parents' Decisions to Create a Business for Their Adult Child With Intellectual Disability.

Obtaining and maintaining work can be a challenge for many people with intellectual disability (ID) and parents can play an integral role in supporting their child to secure employment. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to understand factors that influence parents' decisions to create a business for their adult child with ID. Nine parents were identified through purposeful and snowball sampling. Parents participated in individual interviews and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Our findings suggest that school experiences, expectations for work, presence of specialized support, and encouragement and suggestions from others influenced parents' decisions to create a business. In light of the findings, we discuss how parents' previous experiences and responsiveness influenced the creation of the business.

Self-Employed Canadians' Experiences with Cancer and Work: A Qualitative Study.

Self-employed individuals with cancer face unique challenges that have not been fully explored in previous research. For example, while some studies conducted in Europe have suggested that self-employed workers with cancer experience more adverse health and work-related outcomes compared to salaried workers, the specific manners in which cancer affects the health, work, and businesses of self-employed individuals remain inadequately understood. This lack of understanding represents a crucial gap in the literature, as self-employed individuals make up a significant portion of the workforce in many countries, including Canada. To address this gap, a qualitative interpretive description study was undertaken to explore the experiences of 23 self-employed Canadians diagnosed with cancer from six provinces, with the aim of generating insights into the unique challenges faced by this population. The interviews were conducted in the language chosen by the participants from the two official languages of Canada, namely English and French. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four major themes and twelve subthemes were generated from the participants' shared accounts that reflected the impact of cancer on self-employed Canadians' physical, cognitive, and psychological function, affecting their work ability and their ability to maintain their business and financial well-being. Participants in the study also shared strategies they used to continue working and maintain their business during their cancer experience. This study sheds light on the impact of cancer on self-employed individuals and provides insight into the experiences of self-employed individuals with cancer that can inform the development of interventions to support this population.

The impact of self-employment on mental health of the younger elderly in China.

BACKGROUND: With the prolongation of the life expectancy of the Chinese population and the intensification of the aging process of the population, the mental health problems of the elderly have become increasingly prominent. This study aims to explore whether self-employment can promote and how to promote the mental health of the elderly. METHOD: Based on the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) data, this paper uses OLS model and KHB method to verify the impact of self-employment on the mental health of the younger elderly and its mechanism. RESULTS: The results indicate that self-employment can significantly reduce the depression tendency of the younger elderly and promote their mental health. Heterogeneity analysis shows that self-employment has a more significant positive impact on the mental health of the younger elderly who are self-rated healthy, free of chronic diseases and low-level medical service utilization. The mechanism shows that self-employment can indirectly improve the mental health of the younger elderly through income growth effect and self-worth realization effect, in which the self-worth realization effect is greater than the economic effect. It illustrates that with the development of China's economy, the elderly are pursuing more intrinsic values brought by self-employment than economic benefits. CONCLUSION: In view of the above research results, it is suggested to encourage the elderly to actively participate in social activities, provide policy support for the younger elderly to engage in self-employment, increase government support as well as health guarantee level, and improve the subjective initiative of the elderly to participate in self-employment, so that the society can truly realize the healthy aging of "being useful and productive for the elderly".

Sentidos y significados atribuidos al autoempleo por cuatro profesionistas de la psicología en el contexto mexicano

La flexibilización y precarización estructural del trabajo han llevado, entre otros trabajadores, a un grupo de profesionistas de la psicología a identificar en el autoempleo una forma viable para desempeñarse en la actualidad. Esta experiencia ha representado para ellos una actividad performática que los reta a reinventarse continuamente para adaptarse a los cambios del mercado laboral y que trasforma los sentidos y significados que atribuyen al autoempleo. Con el objetivo de conocer y comprender esos sentidos y significados atribuidos al autoempleo, por medio de un estudio cualitativo de las narrativas y asociaciones de tres psicólogas y un psicólogo autoempleados en México se realizó este estudio. Los resultados develan las experiencias de autoempleo como articulación entre nuevas libertades y dependencias, que significan el trabajo para las y los participantes y desmitifican algunas retóricas del autoempleo. Concluimos que es urgente que las políticas laborales y educativas correspondan a estas realidades actuales del ejercicio libre de las profesiones, no sólo de la psicología.

The flexibilization and structural precariousness of work have led, among other workers, a group of psychology professionals to identify self-employment as a viable way of working in today's world. This experience has represented for them a performative activity, challenging them to reinvent continually themselves in order to adapt to changes in the labor market and transforming the sense and meanings they attribute to self-employment. With the objective to know and understand the sense and meaning attributed to work, the narratives and associations of four self-employed psychologists in Mexico were analyzed through a qualitative study. The results disclose the experiences of self-employment as an articulation between new freedoms and dependencies, which signify work for the participants and demystify some self-employment rhetoric. There is an urgent need for labor and educational policies to adjust to the actual realities of free professionals' practice, not only in the field of psychology.

A flexibilidade e a precariedade estrutural do trabalho levaram, entre outros trabalhadores, um grupo de profissionais da psicologia a identificar no trabalho autônomo uma forma viável de atuar na atualidade. Esta experiência tem representado para eles uma atividade de desempenho que os desafia a reinventar-se continuamente para se adaptar às mudanças do mercado de trabalho e que transforma os sentidos e significados que atribuem ao trabalho por conta própria. Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de conhecer e compreender esses sentidos e significados atribuídos ao trabalho autônomo, através de um estudo qualitativo das narrativas e associações de três psicólogos e psicólogos autônomos no México. Os resultados revelam as vivências do trabalho autônomo como articulação entre novas liberdades e dependências, que significam trabalho para os participantes e desmistificam algumas retóricas do trabalho autônomo. Concluímos que é urgente que as políticas laborais e educativas correspondam a estas realidades atuais do livre exercício das profissões, não só da psicologia.

Self-employment, illness, and the social security system: a qualitative study of the experiences of solo self-employed workers in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Today's labor market has changed over time, shifting from mostly full-time, secured, and standard employment relationships to mostly entrepreneurial and precarious working arrangements. Thus, self-employment (SE) has been growing rapidly in recent decades due to globalization, automation, technological advances, and the recent rise of the 'gig' economy, among other factors. Accordingly, more than 60% of workers worldwide are non-standard and precarious. This precarity profoundly impacts workers' health and well-being, undermining the comprehensiveness of social security systems. This study aims to examine the experiences of self-employed (SE'd) workers on how they are protected with available social security systems following illness, injury, and income reduction or loss. METHODS: Drawing on in-depth interviews with 24 solo SE'd people in Ontario (January - July 2021), thematic analysis was conducted based on participants' narratives of experiences with available security systems following illness or injury. The dataset was analyzed using NVIVO qualitative software to elicit narratives and themes. FINDINGS: Three major themes emerged through the narrative analysis: (i) policy-practice (mis)matching, (ii) compromise for a decent life, and (iii) equity in work and benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Meagre government-provided formal supports may adversely impact the health and wellbeing of self-employed workers. This study points to ways that statutory social protection programs should be decoupled from benefits provided by employers. Instead, government can introduce a comprehensive program that may compensate or protect low-income individuals irrespective of employment status.

[Career prospects for ophthalmologists under 49 years old : A survey in Germany from 2022]. / Berufliche Zukunftsperspektive von Augenärzten unter 49 Jahren : Eine Umfrage in Deutschland aus dem Jahr 2022.

OBJECTIVE: The need for care in ophthalmology is constantly increasing due to demographic changes. The study analyzed the current professional situation and future prospects of ophthalmologists under 49 years old. METHODS: The survey of members of the German Association of Ophthalmologists (Berufsverband der Augenärzte Deutschlands) and the German Ophthalmologic Society (Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft) was conducted in 2022. All members under the age of 49 years received an online questionnaire on the current professional situation as well as future perspectives (desired working hours, form of organization). The results of the survey were additionally compared with the 2016 survey of the German Association of Ophthalmologists. A similar questionnaire was used at that time. RESULTS: A total of 1014 people participated in the survey (62.7% women, mean age 39.3 ± 8 years, 75.6% specialists). The response rate to the survey was 25%. Specialist practice from 0 to 5 years showed a higher number of employed ophthalmologists (21% self-employed vs. 32% employed); over time the number of self-employed ophthalmologists increased (6-10 years: 40%, > 10 years: 59.3%). Overall, 46% of women were employed in a practice compared with 33% of men. Of the self-employed specialists, 95.9% said they planned to work in the same type of employment in 10 years as currently. Regarding ophthalmologists' career future, the other employment types showed a desire to move to independent practice. Compared to the 2016 survey, gender differences related to the current type of employment were evident. The number of self-employed women decreased from 43% to 26% and self-employed men decreased from 63% to 39%. The number of ophthalmologists in ambulatory healthcare centers was doubled compared to 2016. Ophthalmologists reported similar future perspectives at both survey times. CONCLUSION: The results of the survey of ophthalmologists under 49 years in Germany showed similar perceptions as in 2016. It became clear that the desire to be self-employed in 10 years is very high; however, ophthalmologists expected large practices or medical care centers to prevail in the market. The number of self-employed doctors is decreasing and the desire for self-employment is difficult to realize.

Socially stratified associations between self-employment and health among Chilean older people.

Non-standard forms of employment, such as self-employment, are among the most prevalent routes for older people to access the workforce. While the financial benefits of any form of self-employment in later life have been widely acknowledged, less is known about their impact on health. This study explores the association between self-employment and 16 health outcomes among older people with different social stratification characteristics in Chile, a developing country experiencing rapid population ageing. We rely on a rich representative life history survey of Chilean men and women between the ages 65 and 75 years (N = 802) living in the capital Santiago, weighted sequence analysis to reconstruct employment histories and weighted regression analysis to measure the association between self-employment and health in later life. All our analyses are adjusted by both individual lifetime health indicators and employment trajectories. Our results show that being self-employed relative to not working is positively associated with health in seven out of 16 outcomes. More surprisingly, those in a self-employment position seem to enjoy better health outcomes, particularly among the less educated and lower-income levels. These stratified associations raise questions about how these individuals enjoy better health despite facing adverse social conditions.

Eastward enlargements of the European Union, transitional arrangements and self-employment.

When the European Union expanded eastward in 2004 and 2007 to accession the so-called EU8 and EU2 countries, respectively, the incumbent member states imposed temporary restrictions on the employment of EU8 and EU2 nationals. Self-employed individuals were exempted from these transitional arrangements, prompting concerns that self-employment could be used as a means to evade the restrictions on labour market access. If the transitional arrangements led to an increase in EU8 and EU2 nationals' self-employment rates, as previous research suggests, then their removal should have led to a corresponding decrease. This article analyses whether the latter has indeed been the case. Using pooled cross section data from the EU Labour Force Survey, over the period 2004-2019, we show that removing the transitional arrangements has had a negative effect on the self-employment rates of EU2 nationals, but seemingly no effect on the self-employment rates of EU8 nationals. Distinguishing between types of capitalist regimes, however, reveals a much more nuanced picture, with significant variation in terms of the magnitude and significance of the effect across groups of countries.

Squeezed out: Experienced precariousness of self-employed care workers in residential long-term care, from an intersectional perspective.

AIM: To understand self-employed long-term-care workers' experiences of precariousness, and to unravel how their experiences are shaped at the intersection of gender, class, race, migration and age. BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, increasing numbers of nurses and nursing aides in long-term care (LTC) opt for self-employment. Societal organizations and policy makers express concerns about this development, as self-employment is seen as a risk factor for poor health. Self-employment is not necessarily precarious work but can contribute to the precariousness of specific groups. Knowledge about inequities among self-employed nurses and nursing aides in long-term care is lacking. DESIGN: A participatory, qualitative interview study. The research team consisted of four academic researchers and five (un)paid care workers. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 23 self-employed nurses and nursing aides in LTC (2019-2020). Data were analysed from an intersectional perspective. RESULTS: First, we describe that feeling precarious as a hired employee-due to increasing workloads, health risks, poverty and discrimination-shapes care workers' choice for self-employment. Second, we describe inequities between self-employed care workers who could (financially) afford to turn to self-employment as a health strategy and those who felt squeezed out of the organizations due to poverty or discrimination. They more often dealt with precarious work in the context of precarious lives, negatively impacting their health. Third, we describe how negotiating an entrepreneurial identity with a caring identity required material sacrifices and thus contributed to self-employed care workers' financial precariousness, particularly as women. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that working in LTC is becoming increasingly precarious for all care workers, both for hired and self-employed, with younger, lower-paid and racialized women with unpaid caring responsibilities seemingly most at risk for precariousness. IMPACT: Our findings urge policy makers and care organizations to develop gender and diversity-sensitive policy responses to address these inequities.

Self-Employment, Working Hours, and Hypertension by Race/Ethnicity in the USA.

There is a large literature on work-related characteristics and hypertension, but studies on self-employment, longer working hours, and hypertension are mixed. Assessments of self-employment should be extended to account for people with part-time self-employment (i.e., employees also earning income from self-employment). The aim of this study was to determine the association of different types of self-employment with hypertension among adults by race/ethnicity and to assess whether longer working hours moderated these associations. Using data from the 2007-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, measured hypertension (blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mm Hg) was assessed and employment categories included employees, part-time self-employment (i.e., employee with self-employment income), or full-time self-employment. Modified Poisson regressions and multiplicative interaction terms were used. Having full-time self-employment was associated with lower relative risk (RR) of hypertension compared to employees among Black (RR = 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.61-0.96) and White men (RR = 0.77, 0.65-0.93) compared to employees. Full-time self-employment was associated with higher risk of hypertension (RR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.01-1.82) compared to employees among Hispanic women, while part-time self-employment was associated with lower risk (RR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.48-0.98). Among White women, part-time self-employment was associated with higher relative risk of hypertension (RR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.05-1.53) compared to employees. There were significant interactions between employment categories and longer working hours among Hispanic women as well as Black women and men. The results suggest that self-employment categories and longer working hours impact hypertension by race/ethnicity and sex. Because the number of full-time and part-time self-employed adults has increased, the health of this particular subgroup of workers should be further addressed.

Female entrepreneurs managing from home.

Gender roles demand that women devote more time to non-market labor such as childcare and household responsibilities. Therefore, the labor market hinders women's ability to compete with their male counterparts, whose time is less subject to the demands of non-market work. The result is a performance gap between men and women. To obtain the flexibility to more efficiently perform both their market and non-market work, many women choose to be self-employed and operate their businesses from home. Using a large sample of US firms, we find that women who choose to operate their own businesses from home are able to narrow the performance gap between men and women entrepreneurs. Plain English Summary Women partially overcome societal disadvantages by running businesses from home. Women business owners achieve significant synergies by working from home that enable them to narrow the gap in performance relative to men. An analysis of over 600,000 small businesses reveals that there is a significant gap in performance between businesses run by men versus those run by women. Prior research shows that men enjoy structural advantages over women due to society's demands on women's time to perform household duties or provide childcare. We find that women are able to narrow the resulting performance gap by operating their businesses from home, providing them increased flexibility to manage their time. Our paper indicates that supporting women-owned businesses with policies that grant greater flexibility or more equitably or efficiently distribute household work can improve economic efficiency. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-022-00713-7.

Resilient entrepreneurs? - revisiting the relationship between the Big Five and self-employment.

The Big Five personality traits and their influence on entrepreneurial action have been repeatedly studied using a trait-based approach. The present paper partly deviates from this perspective by analysing the role of personality prototypes in relation to entrepreneurship. This person-centred approach suggests that combinations of Big Five traits form individual personalities. By using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that at least three prototypes can be identified, one of which - the resilient type - can be hypothesized to significantly increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial action. Our regression results provide evidence of a positive impact of this prototype on the likelihood of and transitioning into self-employment but not the likelihood of exit. We also show that the prototyping approach explains individual self-employment decisions over and above what can already be explained by the profiling approach, another person-centred Big Five approach. The paper concludes with implications for policy and research.

Identifying entrepreneurial personalities ­ an improved person-centred approach to the Big Five personality traits advances our understanding of self-employment decisions. Previous studies emphasize a positive influence of the personality traits extraversion and openness on entrepreneurship. The present paper shows that the interaction of personality traits is also important. A resilient personality type that combines high values in the aforementioned traits with higher levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness and emotional stability has a positive impact on the likelihood to become self-employed. We also show that a resilient personality type explains self-employment decisions beyond what can already be explained by profiling, another person-centred Big Five approach. As a practical implication, advice from career or start-up consultants should not be based on profiling alone. Otherwise, too many entrepreneurs may be discouraged from their entrepreneurial endeavours. Generally speaking, self-employment decisions should incorporate personality aspects only as one among many relevant factors.

Were small businesses more likely to permanently close in the pandemic?

Previous estimates indicate that COVID-19 led to a large drop in the number of operating businesses operating early in the pandemic, but surprisingly little is known on whether these shutdowns turned into permanent closures and whether small businesses were disproportionately hit. This paper provides the first analysis of permanent business closures using confidential administrative firm-level panel data covering the universe of businesses filing sales taxes from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. We find large increases in closure rates in the first two quarters of 2020, but a strong reversal of this trend in the third quarter of 2020. The increase in closures rates in the first two quarters of the pandemic was substantially larger for small businesses than large businesses, but the rebound in the third quarter was also larger. The disproportionate closing of small businesses led to a sharp concentration of market share among larger businesses as indicated by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index with only a partial reversal after the initial increase. The findings highlight the fragility of small businesses during a large adverse shock and the consequences for the competitiveness of markets.

The impact of the big five personality variables on self-employment survival.

Based on large, representative Australian household panel, this study investigates to what extent the Big Five personality variables influence self-employment survival and differentiates between successful or unsuccessful exit. In addition, the influence of two moderating variables, tertiary education and the motivation to become self-employed, are considered. Contrary to expectations, we found no impact of the Big Fives variable on self-employment survival in general. In the case of unsuccessful exit, we found that entrepreneurs with a higher level of Conscientiousness tend to stay self-employed although they may not be satisfied with their job. Similarly, entrepreneurs with a tertiary education prolong unsuccessfully self-employment stints, particularly if they exhibit higher level of Emotional Stability. Necessity-driven entrepreneurs exit unsuccessful stints earlier, especially if they exhibit a lower level of conscientiousness.