@article{FritschKritikosSorgner2015, author = {Fritsch, Michael and Kritikos, Alexander and Sorgner, Alina}, title = {Why did self-employment increase so strongly in Germany?}, series = {Entrepreneurship and regional development}, volume = {27}, journal = {Entrepreneurship and regional development}, number = {5-6}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {0898-5626}, doi = {10.1080/08985626.2015.1048310}, pages = {307 -- 333}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Germany experienced a unique rise in the level of self-employment in the first two decades following unification. Applying the nonlinear Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique, we find that the main factors driving these changes in the overall level of self-employment are demographic developments, the shift towards service sector employment and a larger share of population holding a tertiary degree. While these factors explain most of the development in self-employment with employees and the overall level of self-employment in West Germany, their explanatory power is much lower for the stronger increase in solo self-employment and in self-employment in former socialist East Germany.}, language = {en} } @article{CaliendoFossenKritikosetal.2015, author = {Caliendo, Marco and Fossen, Frank M. and Kritikos, Alexander and Wetter, Miriam}, title = {The Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship: Not just a Matter of Personality}, series = {CESifo economic studies : a joint initiative of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit{\"a}t and Ifo Institute for Economic Research}, volume = {61}, journal = {CESifo economic studies : a joint initiative of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit{\"a}t and Ifo Institute for Economic Research}, number = {1}, publisher = {Oxford Univ. Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1610-241X}, doi = {10.1093/cesifo/ifu023}, pages = {202 -- 238}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Why do entrepreneurship rates differ so markedly by gender? Using data from a large representative German household panel, we investigate to what extent personality traits, human capital, and the employment history influence the start-up decision and can explain the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Applying a decomposition analysis, we observe that the higher risk aversion among women explains a large share of the entrepreneurial gender gap. We also find an education effect contributing to the gender difference. In contrast, the Big Five model and the current employment state have effects in the opposite direction, meaning that the gender gap in entrepreneurial entry would be even larger if women had the same scores and the same employment status as men. (JEL codes: L26, J16, D81, J24, M13).}, language = {en} }