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Independent work, modern organizations and entrepreneurial labor: Diversity and hybridity of freelancers and self-employment
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The paper deals with self-employment of one-(wo)man-firms as the smallest units of entrepreneurial companies and focuses at the blurred boundaries between dependent work and self-employment. We call the overlapping identities hybrid entrepreneurs. Based on the collected data it can be shown that the hybrid self-employed differ significantly from non-hybrid ‘regular’ entrepreneurs with respect to selected socio-demographic characteristics, professional, as well as company-specific factors. The paper takes up several of the findings and tries to discuss them in a framework of (micro) organizations, institutions and self-employment. Taking the case of hybrid employment fosters crucial and provoking questions for an appropriate understanding of the division of enterprises and occupations.
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... Eine sehr hohe Zahl an Selbstständigen ist solo-selbstständig tätig. Sie machen nunmehr europaweit mehr als 70 Prozent aller Selbstständigen aus (Bögenhold & Klinglmair, 2016;Cieslik & Dvoulety, 2019;Sawy & Bögenhold, 2022). Dabei ist es empirisch nicht hinreichend geklärt, inwieweit sich dieser hohe Anteil an Solo-Selbstständigkeit stärker aus neuen und positiv zu interpretierenden Mustern innovativer Ideen, neuer Berufe und neuen Firmen oder stärker aus prekären und outgesourcten Formen traditioneller Berufe und Tätigkeiten zusammensetzt, in denen die selbstständig Tätigen lieber ein abhängiges Beschäftigungsverhältnis hätten, was ihnen freilich verwehrt erscheint. ...
... Damit bildet sich eine beachtliche Heterogenität in den sozialen Lagen ab, die von prekären Tätigkeiten bis hin zu überdurchschnittlich erfolgreichen Einkommensund Soziallagen im Bereich des Unternehmertums zeigt(Bögenhold, 2019). Die sozioökonomische Kategorie der Selbstständigkeit scheint in einem Zustand ständiger Veränderung zu sein, wobei Teile davon auch Überschneidungen zur Kategorie der abhängigen Arbeit aufweisen, wenn wir von hybriden Formen von Selbstständigkeit sprechen(Bögenhold & Klinglmair, 2016). Die Limitationen der Studie liegen zum einen in der regionalen Betrachtung von ausschließlich Kärntner Ein-Personen-Unternehmen. ...
Über den historischen Rückgang der selbstständigen Erwerbsarbeit ist viel Literatur verfügbar, aber auffällig ist, dass in heutigen Zeiten einer Konsolidierung oder eines graduellen Anstiegs von Selbstständigkeit vor allem die Zahl der Ein-Personen-Unternehmen überproportional zunimmt. Diese Ein-PersonenUnternehmen rangieren in verschiedenen Begrifflichkeiten, von denen einer der der Solo-Selbstständigkeit ist. Solo-Selbstständigkeit hat viele Gesichter, ihre Kontextfaktoren sind mannigfaltig und verweisen auf verschiedene Arbeitsmarktkonstruktionen und deren Veränderungen. Anhand der empirischen Befunde aus Österreich, exemplarisch für das Bundesland Kärnten und die dortige beruflichen Selbstständigkeit, wird im Hinblick auf die Zufriedenheit und die Belastung durch die Einkommenssituation deutlich, dass die Mehrheit der befragten Ein-Personen-Unternehmen angab, eine hohe Zufriedenheit mit ihrer Selbstständigkeit zu empfinden, aber zugleich auch eine hohe Belastung durch die Einkommenssituation bei der Selbstständigkeit wahrzunehmen. Somit stellt die Einkommenssituation für die Selbstständigen zwar eine Belastung dar, aber dennoch scheint diese nicht als so schwerwiegend empfunden zu werden, dass sie die allgemeine Zufriedenheit mit der beruflichen Selbstständigkeit beeinflusst.
... The OLP environment is commonly characterized by a surplus of labor availability and jobs that are simple to Economies 2023, 11, 80 2 of 18 execute and do not require advanced or specialized skills. These features make OLPs attractive to self-employed or independent workers, the so-called freelancers (Borchert et al. 2018;Aguinis and Lawal 2013;Baitenizov et al. 2019;Bögenhold and Klinglmair 2016;Bridge 2016;de Jager et al. 2016;Elstad 2015;Johal and Anastasi 2015;McKeown 2016;Syrett 2016). ...
... There has been a relative surge in studies of freelancing (Alvarez De La Vega et al. 2021;Lehdonvirta et al. 2019;Mai 2021;Hudek et al. 2021;Kathuria et al. 2021;Žunac et al. 2021;van der Zwan et al. 2020;Sultana et al. 2019;Zadik et al. 2019;Gupta et al. 2020a;Ke and Zhu 2021), but there is still a lack of research on the subject (Poon 2019;Wagner et al. 2021;Baitenizov et al. 2019;McKeown 2016;Zadik et al. 2019;Barley et al. 2017;Fenwick 2006;Kitching and Smallbone 2012). Cohesive underlying theories to explain the dimensions and facets of freelancing are in the process of being applied or developed (Poon 2019;Wagner et al. 2021;Aguinis and Lawal 2013;Bögenhold and Klinglmair 2016;McKeown 2016;Syrett 2016). Existing studies have only focused on macro-level factors, linking freelancing to shifts in the labor force, global mobility, and access to knowledge and skills (Syrett 2016;Abreu et al. 2019;Annink 2017;Meager 2016;McKeown and Leighton 2016;Holtz et al. 2022;Nikolova 2019;Obschonka et al. 2014). ...
Sharing economy online labor platforms play a critical role in bringing together freelancers and potential employers. This research is one of the few studies to address how freelancers’ characteristics impact the likelihood of being hired by employers using the theory of person–environment fit as a broad framework. Using Freelancer data, this research investigates if country of residence (of a freelancer and the employer), amount earned, and time since registered on the platform, are associated with the employment decision. The results indicate that country of residence does matter. Freelancers who tend to be from the same country as the employers are more likely to be hired. Likewise, high-income freelancers are less likely to be hired. Further, being longer on the platform influences the association between income level and likelihood of being hired. Greater efforts should be made to eliminate the asymmetric information between freelancers and employers and to provide more opportunities for both parties. The operators of online labor platforms should be encouraged to display information about freelancers that relates to country of origin, along with reviews, ratings, and rates earned in the same skill category, which would have strategic implications for freelance entrepreneurs on how to leverage themselves on a shared-economy-based online labor platform.
... Ως προς τη σχέση απασχόλησης ο εργαζόμενος μπορεί θεωρείται ελεύθερος επαγγελματίας, υπάλληλος ή κάτι υβριδικό (Bögenhold, Klinglmair, 2016). Διακριτές μορφές αποτελούν ο σταθερά εργαζόμενος σε ένα μόνο εργοδότη ή ο αυτοαπασχολούμενος. ...
... Διακριτές μορφές αποτελούν ο σταθερά εργαζόμενος σε ένα μόνο εργοδότη ή ο αυτοαπασχολούμενος. Υβριδικές μορφές είναι ο εργαζόμενος με μια σταθερή, μόνιμη απασχόληση που αναζητά τρόπους να συμπληρώσει το εισόδημά του μέσω μιας παράλληλης απασχόλησης, ο αυτοαπασχολούμενος που αναζητά και την εργασιακή ασφάλεια μιας μόνιμης θέσης εργασίας (Bögenhold, Klinglmair, 2016 Στη βιβλιογραφική αναζήτηση απαντώνται συχνά λίστες με τις συνηθέστερες εργασίες, οι Kazi et al (2014) προτείνουν την ακόλουθη λίστα που περιέχει μια αρκετά πλήρη παράθεση των συνηθέστερων κατηγοριών, χωρίς ωστόσο να είναι εξαντλητική. ...
Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι η εξέταση μιας νέας δυναμικά αναδυόμενης μορφής εργασίας, που χαρακτηρίζεται ως “τηλεργασία”.
Η γενική στάση τόσο των εργαζομένων, όσο και εργοδοτών ως προς την τηλεργασία είναι θετική και η πρόβλεψή τους για το μέλλον είναι ότι θα συνεχίσει να έχει θετική δυναμική και να επεκταθεί ακόμη περισσότερο.
Βασικά πλεονεκτήματα της τηλεργασίας, σύμφωνα με τα ευρήματα της έρευνας, είναι οι δυνατότητες αντιστοίχισης επαγγελματικών προσόντων και επαγγελματικών ευκαιριών, η ευελιξία στους όρους απασχόλησης, η εξοικονόμηση χρόνου από τυχόν μετακινήσεις προς την εργασία, καθώς και η πιθανή επίτευξη καλύτερων αμοιβών για υψηλών προσόντων εργασιακές δραστηριότητες. Σημαίνοντα ρόλο διαφάνηκε να έχει η έννοια της εμπιστοσύνης και το σταδιακό χτίσιμό της σε ανώτερα επίπεδα προκειμένου να υπάρχει αρμονική συνεργασία στο περιβάλλον της τηλεργασίας.
Στα βασικά μειονεκτήματα περιλαμβάνονται η ανάγκη για υπευθυνότητα και αυτοπειθαρχία στην εργασία από τους εργαζομένους και η δυσκολία διαχείρισης της αποτελεσματικότητας του έργου από τους εργοδότες, λόγω και προσκόλλησης σε τρόπους διοίκησης που είναι σε ευθυγράμμιση ακόμα με το παραδοσιακό κυρίαρχο μοντέλο της εργασίας μέσω φυσικής παρουσίας.
Λέξεις Κλειδιά: Τηλεργασία, Εναλλακτική Καριέρα, Επαγγελματική Συμβουλευτική
... Solesvik (2017) suggested that this growing occurrence of and interest in hybrid entrepreneurship could be a result of changes in the labor market with a dramatic shift towards temporary or part-time jobs, showing relevance to the fast-growing digital technology catalyzing various online platforms for gig work. Hybrid entry into entrepreneurship may thus be ascribed to two closely-linked factors: changes in the labor market (Kuhn, 2016;Solesvik, 2017), and the heightened emergence of nonstandard working arrangements (Bögenhold & Klinglmair, 2016;Bögenhold, 2019;Folta et al., 2010). Increasingly more employees work part-time, hold more than one job, or engage in temporary or contract work (Kalleberg, 2000). ...
... We asked respondents to state their birthyear in the questionnaire. Following Bögenhold and Klinglmair (2016), we also classified their ages into four groups, age 20-35, 36-49, 50-59, and above 60. Previous research has demonstrated that education strongly influences an individual's decision of entrepreneurial entry. ...
Hybrid entrepreneurship research is to probe into the increasingly widespread phenomenon of “employment + entrepreneurship” in real life, and to break the traditional practice of dichotomizing self‐employment and employment. Hybrid entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurs with another employment alternative by combining entrepreneurship and employment. By analyzing data collected mainly from prospective entrepreneurs in mainland China, this paper aims to explore the main influencing factors of hybrid entrepreneurial intentions, in particular how gender moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial motives and hybrid entrepreneurial intentions. Empirical findings reveal that gender differences are evident in prospective entrepreneurs who are motivated to be self‐employed by necessity‐driven factors and those who aim to test the waters of entrepreneurship via the hybrid path.
... One of the most significant subgroups among these self-employed individuals is the freelancer group (Van den Born and Van Witteloostuijn, 2014). Freelancers are considered professional individuals contracted by companies and others to whom they sell their knowledge or services, performing at their own risk with temporary work arrangements (Kitching and Smallbone, 2012;Bögenhold and Klinglmair, 2016). ...
The combination of accelerated digitalization and the recent COVID-19 crisis has increased the number of remote workers worldwide to unimaginable proportions. Among the large number of remote workers that execute their projects from home, there is a significant number of permanently self-employed remote workers, usually referred to as freelancers. Despite the importance of this kind of business activity for modern project management society, perceived drivers of freelancing are still unknown. The goal of this paper was to shed some light on the general subjective well-being of freelancing activity and investigate differences concerning gender, age, and education. The study was performed in late 2020 and included 471 freelancers from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro that participated in an online questionnaire evaluating their subjective well-being while participating in the “gig” economy. Factor analysis was used as a primary statistical method and two major groups were identified: (1) Impact of working from home on a freelancer’s personal life and health and (2) Fulfillment of expectations in the economic and professional sense. Gender was found not to be significant for overall work satisfaction. However, older freelancers proved to be more satisfied with the fulfillment of economic and professional expectations, which correlate with years of professional experience. Another conclusion is that more educated freelancers are generally less satisfied with both groups of drivers - fulfillment of personal life and professional expectations. Understanding how the combination of occupations, technological infrastructure, and demographic characteristics in the region has affected the well-being of freelancers may help policymakers and organization owners, as well as future entrepreneurs, better prepare for this model of work in the future. It also increases the possibility of exploring individual dimensions of wellbeing useful for targeting interventions at the level of each country separately. In line with this, the present study contributes to the existing body of knowledge and the impact of hybrid models of work on the subjective well-being of workers in the “gig” economy.
... La prestation de services en ligne peut constituer une activité principale, ou alors une activité parmi d'autres, qui s'inscrit dans un parcours professionnel hybride (Bögenhold et Klinglmair, 2016). Des études portant sur différents pays ont montré que les indépendants qui participent à l'économie des plateformes le font souvent à temps partiel, pour compléter leur revenu principal ou tester une nouvelle formule (Berg et al., 2019;Huws et al., 2017;Piasna et Drahokoupil, 2019;OIT, 2021). ...
Les auteurs décrivent l'évolution du marché du travail indépendant en ligne en Fédération de Russie et dans l'espace postsoviétique. Les données proviennent d'une enquête originale, adressée à quatre reprises, entre 2009 et 2019, aux utilisateurs d'une grande plateforme d'intermédiation en langue russe, axée sur les métiers créatifs et l'économie du savoir. Plusieurs tendances se dégagent: expansion de l'aire de recrutement; diversification des spécialisations; féminisation, vieillissement et qualification de la main‐d'œuvre; péjoration de l'adéquation profil‐tâches; consolidation des parcours indépendants en ligne, plateformisation et formalisation. Les auteurs commentent ces évolutions et formulent des recommandations d'action en vue du développement futur du secteur en Fédération de Russie.
... El trabajo autónomo puede ser la opción profesional principal o formar parte de carteras de empleo más amplias y de trayectorias híbridas (Bögenhold y Klinglmair 2016). Los datos de varios países indican que muchos autónomos participan en la economía de plataformas digitales a tiempo parcial para complementar sus ingresos o probar nuevas modalidades de trabajo (Berg et al. 2019;Huws et al. 2017;Piasna y Drahokoupil 2019;OIT 2021). ...
En este artículo se estudia la evolución del mercado de trabajo en línea en la Federación de Rusia y todo el espacio postsoviético, a partir de datos únicos obtenidos mediante cuatro rondas de encuestas realizadas en 2009, 2011, 2014 y 2019 en la principal plataforma rusófona de trabajo creativo basado en conocimientos. Se observan algunas tendencias importantes: descentralización espacial, diversificación ocupacional, feminización, maduración, aumento del nivel de estudios y desajuste de la calificación, consolidación de la vida profesional autónoma, plataformización y legalización. A la luz de esos resultados, se analizan sus posibles repercusiones en materia de políticas para el futuro desarrollo del trabajo de plataformas en la Federación de Rusia.
Il dibattito sulla liminalità nei contesti organizzativi ha fornito spunti rilevanti per l'interpretazione delle mutevoli dinamiche del lavoro contemporaneo, rappresentando transizioni e posizionamenti ambigui. Ciò è ancora più rilevante nel caso del lavoro autonomo, a cui si accompagna una diversità di posizioni che oscillano tra autonomia e eteronomia, corrispondenti a diverse forme di liminalità legate alle caratteristiche individuali e ai contesti organizzativi in cui i soggetti svolgono la propria attività professionale. Alla luce di questo dibattito, l'articolo indaga il caso del lavoro autonomo nel settore finanziario offrendo un duplice contributo. In primo luogo, il concetto di liminalità viene esteso a un settore largamente inesplo-rato, ma in cui sono sempre più presenti forme di lavoro ai confini tra lavoro autonomo e lavoro dipendente. In secondo luogo, il concetto stesso di liminalità viene ridiscusso alla luce del dibattito scientifico e della ricerca condotta - dal momento che non necessariamente esso rappresenta una condizione di passaggio tra uno stato e l'altro, ma può assumere anche le caratteristiche di una condizione perma-nente. Nelle conclusioni, nell'intento di mettere in luce la varietà delle esperienze liminali insite nel lavoro contemporaneo, viene discusso uno schema concettuale che mostra alcune tendenze di fondo che caratterizzano le trasformazioni dei rapporti d'impiego in un mercato del lavoro in rapida evoluzione e sempre più fluido.
Purpose: This study focuses on dependent self-employment, which covers a situation where a person works for the same employer as a typical worker while on a self-employment contractual basis, i.e., without a traditional employment contract and without certain rights granted to "regular" employees.
Design/methodology/approach: The research exploits the individual-level dataset of 35 European countries extracted from the 2017 edition of the European Labour Force Survey and compares the characteristics of employees and dependent self-employed individuals. Methodologically, the study relies on the estimation of a multivariate logistic regression model.
Findings: The main hypothesis assuming that dependent self-employed work most often in low-skilled occupations was empirically supported. There was also a non-linear (u-shaped) relationship between the years of accumulated experience (with a turning point at 35 years) and the likelihood of being dependent self-employed. Other results showed that dependent self-employed are less likely to be women, and they are more likely born outside of the countries where they participate in the labour markets.
Originality/value: The study contributes to the field by adopting a comparable definition of dependent self-employment and exploiting the recent theoretical support of The Work Precarity Framework. The phenomenon should still be addressed by policymakers and labour office representatives, aiming to protect, primarily, vulnerable lower-skilled workers. The ongoing research should study the longitudinal dimension of dependent self-employment with a focus on motivational aspects.
The topic of this paper is the values of individual entrepreneurial orientation and the Theory of planned behavior dimensions, among freelancers in the Western Balkan countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia). The effects of four control variables: gender, age, education level, and previous entrepreneurial experience were also examined. Freelancers best perceive support for an entrepreneurial venture as well as their proactivity. Entrepreneurial intentions were assessed as the worst. The greatest impact on the observed dimensions occurs in the division of the sample into freelancers who have/do not have previous experience in entrepreneurship. As for the other control variables, statistically significant differences occur in only three other cases: dimensions RT-Risk-taking and PBC-Perceived behavioral control on the side of male freelancers, and dimension IN-Innovativeness on the side of younger freelancers. A comparison was made with a similar study, where the respondents were conventional employees. In general, freelancers have greater entrepreneurial intentions than conventional employees. Freelancers are more consistent in terms of entrepreneurial intentions: there are no differences in these intentions if the sample is divided according to the gender and age of freelancers. These results are discussed in the paper.
We review the literature on solo self-employment focusing on prevalence, characteristics and economic contributions. Besides providing explanations for the upward trend in solo self-employment observed in many Western economies, we shed light on the heterogeneity within the population of solo self-employed with respect to demographic characteristics and start-up motives. Moreover, we review the literature on the contributions of the solo self-employed to economic value creation, including income, innovativeness, and ambitions.
The classification of status in employment as shown in Section 2 of this chapter is designated the International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93). The group definitions are given in Section 3, while the statistical treatment of particular groups is specified in Section 4.
Good Jobs, Bad Jobs provides an insightful analysis of how and why precarious employment is gaining ground in the labor market and the role these developments have played in the decline of the middle class. Kalleberg shows that by the 1970s, government deregulation, global competition, and the rise of the service sector gained traction, while institutional protections for workers-such as unions and minimum-wage legislation-weakened. Together, these forces marked the end of postwar security for American workers. The composition of the labor force also changed significantly; the number of dual-earner families increased, as did the share of the workforce comprised of women, non-white, and immigrant workers. Of these groups, blacks, Latinos, and immigrants remain concentrated in the most precarious and low-quality jobs, with educational attainment being the leading indicator of who will earn the highest wages and experience the most job security and highest levels of autonomy and control over their jobs and schedules. Kalleberg demonstrates, however, that building a better safety net-increasing government responsibility for worker health care and retirement, as well as strengthening unions-can go a long way toward redressing the effects of today's volatile labor market. There is every reason to expect that the growth of precarious jobs-which already make up a significant share of the American job market-will continue. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs deftly shows that the decline in U.S. job quality is not the result of fluctuations in the business cycle, but rather the result of economic restructuring and the disappearance of institutional protections for workers. Only government, employers and labor working together on long-term strategies-including an expanded safety net, strengthened legal protections, and better training opportunities-can help reverse this trend. © 2011 by the American Sociological Association. All rights reserved.
In der Betriebswirtschaftslehre — wie auch in anderen ökonomischen Disziplinen — ist es selbstverständlich, Unternehmen und Privathaushalte als gesonderte Wirtschaftseinheiten zu betrachten. Fraglich ist aber, ob dieses analytische Konzept den empirischen Gegebenheiten in allen Fällen entspricht. Zum einen starten die meisten Unternehmensgründungen im Haushalts- bzw. Familienzusammenhang. Zum anderen sind sehr kleine Unternehmen auch nach der Gründungsphase personell und materiell mit den zugehörigen Privathaushalten in besonderer Weise verbunden.
▪ Vor allem in der Agrar- und Haushaltsökonomik finden sich Konzepte und Modelle einer integrativen Betrachtung von kleinen Familienunternehmen im Haushaltskontext. Diese lassen sich prinzipiell auf alle Unternehmen außerhalb der Landwirtschaft und alle Haushaltsformen anwenden. Damit kann ein Beitrag zum Verständnis von Gründungsprozessen und der Entwicklung von Kleinunternehmen geleistet werden.
▪ Hier werden nach einer Einleitung zunächst ausgewählte Ansätze zur Beschreibung und Erklärung der Existenz und Entwicklung kleiner, haushaltsverbundener Unternehmen skizziert. Anschließend wird die empirische Bedeutung eines solchen Konzepts dargelegt. Abschließend werden Ergebnisse empirischer Forschung zur Komplexbildung von Haushalten und Unternehmen präsentiert und ein Ausblick gegeben.
By combining high quality and in-depth research in the field, this book provides a state of the art analysis of the current topical issues in European entrepreneurship and small business research. With contributions from international experts, the book provides a particular focus on the behaviour between individuals and groups within different contexts; the personal and structural factors that shape entrepreneurial and small business activity; and a focus on gender in entrepreneurship within different contexts. © Robert Blackburn, Ulla Hytti and Friederike Welter 2015. All Rights Reserved.