Are false own-account workers less job satisfied than true ones?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article compares job satisfaction of true and false own-account workers. The latter group refers to own-account workers who are employed with the same tasks by the same employer for whom they previously worked as employees. To create a valid comparable group, the former workers are defined as paid employees who independently started a new business as own-account workers. Using data drawn from the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15 and controlling for possible self-selection issues, we observe that false own-account workers, compared with true ones, have less job satisfaction in terms of type of work, number of working hours, working times, and working conditions and environment. Our results are consistent with existing policies aimed to combat false self-employment developed by many OECD countries.