PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reassess whether individuals choose to become self‐employed for “pull” or “push” reasons, to discuss and describe ambiguities in this distinction, with focus on differences between men and women, and draw conclusions for further conceptual work.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews current literature, from which specific hypotheses are developed. For illustration and evaluation secondary analysis is undertaken of an existing large‐scale data source available in UK Quarterly Labour Force Surveys over the period 1999‐2001.FindingsIt was found that 86 per cent state only a single reason for self‐employment. Response patterns differ significantly between men and women. Independence is the most commonly cited motivation but 22 per cent of women cite family commitments. “Push” motivations may account for as much as 48 per cent depending on interpretation. Men who report two or more factors tend to combine “pull” factors, but women tend to combine “push” with “pull”.Research limitations/implicationsRespondents may display recall bias. Potential ambiguity in the way in which respondents may interpret particular motivations points to the need for future detailed qualitative research, and questionnaire item development. Further work is recommended to assess whether conclusions hold in recent recessionary economic conditions.Practical implicationsClarity between “push” and “pull” factors is important in the design of entrepreneurship policy, especially during a recession. Further work is needed to provide this clarity to inform policy design.Originality/valueFew previous studies investigate reasons for choosing entrepreneurship using large, population‐generalisable data, and do not consider the conceptual ambiguities inherent in categorising motivations as either “pull” or “push”.

This paper is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mediated by differences in dimensions of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, this paper finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. In fact, after controlling for differences in satisfaction with security, our results suggest that temporary employees report higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This leads us to believe that an employment contract characterised by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through heightened job insecurity. Keywords: Temporary employment, Subjective well-being, Job satisfaction, Job insecurity

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Keywords: entrepreneurship, gender, attitude to risk 1

Regional entrepreneurship policy is often framed in terms of spatial shortcomings in entrepreneurial culture. However differences in why individuals choose self-employment may reflect structure rather than culture. This paper investigates UK data for 1999-2001 on reported motives for choosing self-employment. After controlling for individual characteristics and industrial structure, some regional differences persist. These are largely for men and are quantitively small. Northern Ireland stands out, reflecting the different composition of its self-employed. Conclusions for the emphasis of regional policy and further research are discussed.