@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} }