Leaving Unemployment for Self-Employment: An Empirical Study: ZEW Economic Studies, cartea 25

I: Facts, Institutional Arrangements and Evaluation Strategies.- 1 Overview and Introduction.- 2 Unemployment, Self-Employment and Bridging Allowance.- 3 Previous Empirical Findings on the Transition from Unemployment to Self-Employment.- 4 Evaluation Strategies.- II: From Unemployment to Self-Employment.- 5 Theoretical Framework - An Extended Search Model.- 6 Determinants and Success of Self-Employment.- III: Firm Start-Ups by the Unemployed.- 7 Microeconomic Issues on Firm Start-Ups.- 8 Assessing the Impact of Bridging Allowance at the Firm Level.- IV: Concluding Remarks.- 9 Political Options and Future Research.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.

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.