Publication type
Journal Article
Authors
Publication date
December 14, 2026
Summary:
Purpose:
This study investigates the role of earnings in the relationship between age and self-employment decisions, which has remained unclear. By bringing together two areas of the self-employment literature, this research demonstrates how self-employment entry occurs differently across age, where the effect of prior employment pay is not consistent.
Design/methodology/approach:
Data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study 2009 to 2020 is used to examine how an individual's prior pay from employment impacts their propensity to enter self-employment through logistical regression methods.
Findings:
Our results suggest that older individuals with higher prior employment pay levels have an increased likelihood of becoming self-employed. By contrast, young individuals are more likely to become self-employed from lower-paid employment.
Research limitations/implications:
Our findings unlock key insights for future research, as we discover that an individual's decision to enter self-employment is influenced by their age in conjunction with their prior earnings from employment.
Practical implications:
The results suggest that financial aid directed to younger individuals may increase self-employment rates, whereas other assistance, such as training courses and network development, is likely to be a more effective policy strategy for older individuals.
Originality/value:
This study bridges two distinct strands in the current literature on self-employment by analysing how both an individual's age and earning capacity determine their likelihood of transitioning from paid employment to self-employment. This offers a new perspective, as these aspects have not been considered in tandem before.
Published in
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
Volume and page numbers
Volume: 33 , p.89 -111
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-04-2025-0242
ISSN
14626004
Subjects
Notes
Open Access
© Benjamin Bolger, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran, Nóirín McCarthy and Bernadette Power.
Published by Emerald Publishing Limited.
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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