In literature, a rise in the number of self-employed people is basically stated. The results are based on cross-section data from one year and for the most part the analyses are not very detailed. But in an analysis one also has to pay attention to the development over time, because a structural change will only show itself over a long time. To obtain further indications of the development within the field of self-employment, an analysis on the basis of the scientific use files from the years 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 to 1998 and 2000 was carried out. The questions, which were especially considered, are – in which professional group the development was significant? – were there differences in the development in West- and East-Germany? – was there a gender specific development? Overall, the analysis indicates, that the transition into an information- and service-oriented society is neither continuously nor the same in all services areas. The development is marked by dramatic changes over time. Even professional groups, which had an above average increase at the end, sometimes show little or partially negative growth rates. The transition into a service-oriented society takes place not solely in “new” jobs, but on the contrary, it is a concomitant of a disproportionate rise in some classic independent professions, e. g. lawyers and physicians. Furthermore, the analysis shows the steady rise in the numbers of self-employed people in Germany between 1989 and 2000 with an increase of about five percentage point of the solo-self-employed people to roughly 50 percent. The development in West- and East- Germany was different until the mid-90s, which leads to an adjustment of the East- to the West-German structures. It is to emphasise, that the relation of self-employed women to self-employed men (3 to 7) is reasonably stable over the time period. So there are no indications of a structural change, with leads to an adaptation of the numbers of self-employed between the genders. The paper is rather a first step in the direction of a comprehensive study, which takes the numerous facets of self-employment into account, than a definitive analysis of the development of self-employed people in the 90s. It has to be seen as a starting point for more detailed and complementary analyses.
