Evaluating the prevalence and distribution of dependent self‐employment: some lessons from the European Working Conditions Survey

Abstract

This article advances understanding of the prevalence and distribution of dependent self‐employment. Analysing the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey of 35,765 employees in 28 European countries, the dependent self‐employed are found to comprise 4.3% (1 in 23) of the EU workforce, 47% of all those reporting themselves as self‐employed without employees and 31% of all self‐employed. The prevalence of dependent self‐employment, however, is found to have decreased since the previous 2010 survey, is not found to be concentrated among marginalised population groups and is significantly more likely in agriculture, forestry and fishing, arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities, and the household services sector. The implications for theorising and tackling dependent self‐employment are discussed.

Decent Work as Determinant of Work Engagement on Dependent Self-Employed

“…Regarding the first line of research focused on the identification and measurement of dependent self-employed, Williams and Lapeyre [18] pointed out that the dependent self-employed are being falsely classified as self-employed by employers (when they should be classified as wage earners) with the aim of circumventing collective agreements and labor regulations. This allows employers to pay fewer taxes, to avoid obligations in terms of minimum salary, the maximum number of working hours legally allowed per week for employees, etc.…”

“…The concept of dependent self-employment refers to the employment relationship where workers are formally classified as self-employed but have some characteristics of employees, such as their dependence on a single client, their lack of autonomy to hire personnel and/or or make strategic decisions, etc. [16][17][18]. This occupational category has caught the attention of academics and policy-makers in recent years.…”

“…The new occupational categories that have proliferated as a result of globalization and the recession present precarious working conditions, which subsequently undermines work engagement. The number of dependent self-employed has grown rapidly in Europe in recent years, increasing their representation in the labor market from 2% in 2010 to 3.9% in 2015-going from 803 million to 1693 million [18]. Hence, the precariousness of working conditions in Europe, in general, and in certain occupational categories (such as the dependent self-employed) in particular, highlights the importance of analyzing how precariousness affects work engagement [23].…”

Evaluating the working conditions of the dependent self-employed

“…Using the EWCS data, and akin to previous studies (Williams and Horodnic, 2018;Williams and Lapeyre, 2017), the prevalence of dependent self-employment is measured by examining whether a self-employed person without employees possesses all of the following characteristics: they have more than one client, they have authority to hire or dismiss staff, and/or they have authority to make important strategic decisions. If they do not, they are considered dependent self-employed.…”

“…The dependent variable is coded 1 for those in dependent self-employment and zero otherwise. Moreover, and following previous research, a distinction is made between 'pure' dependent self-employed who comply with one or fewer of these criteria and 'grey' dependent self-employed who comply with any two of the criteria (Eurofound, 2016b;Williams and Lapeyre, 2017;Williams and Horodnic, 2018).…”