Abstract

Globalisation and technological change are leading to both qualitative and quantitative adjustments in labour markets, in particular a growing demand for knowledge-intensive employment. At the same time, the required knowledge is becoming increasingly specific, while the number of jobs demanding less skilled employment is declining. This includes work that requires a high level of expertise but little creativity on the part of workers.
Workers are therefore required to be increasingly flexible in their careers, which makes their employment trajectories more volatile. This applies not only to switching between different dependent activities, but also to switching between phases of self-employment. Self-employment and business start-ups become more attractive for highly qualified workers in particular. These shifts result in distortions which affect both the socio-economic and the spatial level in the form of regional disparities.
The number and structure of business start-ups play a key role in explaining these regional disparities. New technologies and products or services are often launched by new enterprises. Successful start-ups - especially in the high-tech sector - therefore promote economic change in a special way and play a considerable part in the creation of new and novel jobs.
The project aims to facilitate an understanding of the circumstances under which people decide to become self-employed (where, by whom and in which situation). In addition, the extent to which professional success and both social and spatial mobility are influenced by phases of self-employment is to be explained. This insight is essential for comprehending the economic spatial processes that contribute to the emergence and persistence of regional disparities.