Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/56862 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
Jena Economic Research Papers No. 2012,001
Publisher: 
Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena
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 2011, the first two decades after reunification. We investigate the socio-economic 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 re-starters), 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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