Self-employment: Who are Australia's entrepreneurs?

Abstract

AbstractRecent years have seen a dramatic growth in the incidence of self-employment, particularly amongst owner managers of incorporated enterprises. Excepting the numerous studies of self-employed migrants, little is known about the general characteristics of the broader community of self-employed persons and, in particular, the extent and determinants of entrepreneurship. Using ABS data from the 1998 Forms of Employment Survey this paper provides some insight into the nature, characteristics and determinants of self-employment in Australia. Amongst other things the results in the paper provide some evidence to support the theory that Professionals, Associate Professionals and migrants from non-English speaking background countries are entrepreneurial and not simply seeking self-employment as a refuge from unemployment.