TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Fritsch, Michael
AU  - Kritikos, Alexander S.
AU  - Sorgner, Alina
        TI  - Why Did Self-Employment Increase so Strongly in Germany?
        PY  - 2015/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 8818
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp8818
        AB  - Germany experienced a unique rise in the level of self-employment in the first two decades following unification. Applying the non-linear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique, we find that the main factors driving these changes in the overall level of self-employment are demographic developments, the shift towards service sector employment, and a larger share of population holding a tertiary degree. While these factors explain most of the development in self-employment with employees and the overall level of self-employment in West Germany, their explanatory power is much lower for the stronger increase of solo self-employment and of self-employment in former socialist East Germany.
        KW  - entrepreneurship
KW  - non-linear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique
KW  - self-employment
KW  - Germany
        ER  -