Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/61419 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1184
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Based on representative data, the German Micro-Census, we provide an overview of the development of self-employment and entrepreneurship in Germany between 1991 and 2010, the first two decades after reunification. We investigate the socioeconomic background of these individuals, their education, previous employment status, and their income level. We observe a unique increase in self-employment in Germany by 40 percent which can partly be attributed to the transformation process of East Germany and to the shift to the service sector. We notice a yearly start-up rate of 1 percent among the working population (almost 20 percent of them being restarters), a decision that pays for the majority of individuals in terms of income. Contrary to other countries, in Germany there is a positive relationship between educational levels and the probability of starting a business.
Subjects: 
Entrepreneurship
self-employment
start-ups
Germany
JEL: 
L26
D22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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