Self-employment convergence in Europe: The role of migration

Abstract

This paper attempts to identify patterns of convergence in the rates of self-employment (SE) for both foreign-born and natives in a sample of 17 European countries during the period 1999-2018. A distinction is made between self-employed with and without workers. Our analysis is relevant for policy-making: whether or not there is evidence of convergence in SE rates can be an indication of the homogeneity of self-employed workers among the countries analysed, which in turn may reflect the success of the EU-wide policies to boost SE.