Download or read book Growing Self-Employment in Western Europe written by Silvia Luber and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reemergence of self-employment in mostWestern European countries since the 1980s is seen as a reaction to changes inthe organization of work in Europe, and not necessarily an effect of economicmodernization. The development and features of self-employment are traced ineight Western European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, theNetherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK), and the ways in which workingpatterns are determined by different economic and structural environments areanalyzed. The analysis is based on data obtained from the European Labor ForceSurvey from 1983 to 1997, using mainly respondents' self-definition ofdependent employee or self-employed. Three reasons are found most important for the rise of self-employment: (1)changes in cultural and sociodemographic issues; (2) institutional andpolitical arrangements; and (3) structural changes in the economic,technological, and organizational environments. Differences in the industrialcomposition of the eight countries are examined to determine cross-nationaldissimilarities in self-employment patterns. Although self-employment hasincreased in almost every Western European country, various causes in thedevelopment of self-employment are identified, and differences in thedistribution of self-employment between Northern and Southern Europeancountries are revealed. (CBS).