• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.149-179
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• 2003

This study is analysing the factors determining individuals' behavior of selecting self-employment not only at the micro-level but also at the macro-level to put a particular emphasis on the financial constraint and unemployment rate representing business cycle. The data used in this study are "Korean Labor and Income Panal Study" of the Korea Labor Institute and "Economically Active Population Survey" of National Statistical Office. The main findings are as follows. First, human capital such as educational attainment and job experience has positive effects on male's selection of self-employment. The effects of job experience, however, changed negative for female's selection of self-employment. Second, real estate is significantly enhancing the selection probabilities of employer selection while the income from financial assets has negative effects. Third, entrepreneurial culture and environment are also raising the self-employment selection probability. Lastly, the regional unemployment rate representing the business cycle has positive effects on the self-employment selection after the financial crisis in 1997 both at the micro and macro level. Moreover, the coefficient of regional unemployment rate has changed positive in the structural model of self-employment selection controlling for selection bias and income opportunities, which means that individual's behavior of self-employment selection is rather complex when accounting for the uncertainties of income opportunities and diverse characteristics of self-employment workforce.