Never the same after the first time: the satisfaction of the second‐generation self‐employed
Abstract
Purpose
It is known that the self‐employed are generally more satisfied than salaried workers. The aim of this paper is to test whether this phenomenon is particularly found for the first‐generation self‐employed.
Design/methodology/approach
French and British panel data are analysed, which include information on various measures of job satisfaction, and the respondent's parents' occupation. Job satisfaction regressions were run in which the first‐ and second‐generation self‐employed were distinguished between.
Findings
The study finds that first‐generation self‐employed (those whose parents were not self‐employed) are more satisfied overall than are the second‐generation self‐employed. The findings are consistent between the British and French data.
Research limitations/implications
While the results are the same in the two countries considered, further validation work should extend the analysis across countries. While the authors are fairly sure that the second‐generation self‐employed do worse, they cannot precisely distinguish between comparison to one's parents, constrained occupational choice, and selection effects due to lower barriers to self‐employment entry.
Originality/value
The authors believe that this is one of the first papers to distinguish between types of self‐employed in terms of their higher satisfaction. The finding that parents' labour force status continues to have a significant impact on their children's job satisfaction argues for a more systematic consideration of intergenerational factors in the analysis of labour markets.
Keywords
Citation
Clark, A., Colombier, N. and Masclet, D. (2008), "Never the same after the first time: the satisfaction of the second‐generation self‐employed", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 591-609. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720810908910
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited