Empirical findings on self-employment taking particular account of nominally self-employed employment relationships

Abstract

"The number of self-employed people in Germany increased slightly from the early 1980s and has increased to a greater extent since the beginning of the 1990s. Starting from the 1970s a considerable change has been observed in the fields of activity of the self-employed, which has always been an extremely heterogeneous group. Thus the sector-specific distribution of the selfemployed has changed clearly, but also the group composition of the self-employed has undergone a far-reaching change. There has been an increase in the number of women and foreigners turning to this form of employment; with regard to qualification level, it was primarily graduates from institutions of higher education. Self-employment has always also constituted a field of activity for working people who work solely for themselves, without employees (in employment relationships subject to social insurance). With some slight fluctuations about 50% of all the self-employed were of this type. In this context particular consideration must be paid to workers who are referred to as nominally self-employed. The term nominally self-employed refers to workers who are in fact like selfemployed people, but must be assessed as workers in dependent employment as a result of their specific employment situation (the material contractual relationship) and in accordance with the particular concept used to distinguish the forms of employment. If formally self-employed individuals are actually to be assessed as workers in dependent employment, then they have protection with regard to both employment law and social law, as well as the obligations as an employee in accordance with the legal regulations valid in Germany for employees. On the basis of an extensive survey (IAB study of the nominally self-employed) the article shows the significance of the choice of model used for differentiation in the identification of nominally self-employed people both in quantitative and in qualitative respects. Thus not only the extent of the employment identified as nominal self-employment but also the distribution of the group of workers determined in this way depends considerably on the choice of differentiation model for example in occupational, material and social respects." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Dietrich, H. (1999): Empirische Befunde zur selbständigen Erwerbstätigkeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung scheinselbständiger Erwerbsverhältnisse. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 32, No. 1, p. 85-101.