Leaving Unemployment for Self-Employment

The book presents an analysis of the transition from unemployment to self-employment and its subsidisation with the so-called "bridging allowance" in Germany. On the basis of econometric models, the determinants and the success of self-employment among former unemployed are estimated at the individual as well as at the firm level. By comparing different groups of the formerly unemployed, it becomes evident that self-employment is one successful route out of unemployment, as self-employment proves to be more stable than paid-employment. Therefore, the bridging allowance reaches its aim of regaining stable employment for the unemployed. However, this programme fails to create additional employment in the newly founded firms.

Reize, Frank (2004), Leaving Unemployment for Self-Employment, Vol. 25, Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg/New York