Longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) are used to examine developments in self-employment in Germany between 1984 and 1998.Following a discussion of the key characteristics of self-employment in Germany, the GSOEP data are used to determine who becomes...

The reemergence of self-employment in mostWestern European countries since the 1980s is seen as a reaction to changes inthe organization of work in Europe, and not necessarily an effect of economicmodernization. The development and features of self-employment are traced ineight Western European...