2019 Volume 18 Pages 18-30
Previous studies compare self-employment and nonstandard employment from the viewpoint of their substitution or similarity. However, it is not clear what the employment status is after quitting self-employment. Moreover, previous studies focusing on their substitution overemphasize their similarities. In this paper, I present the similarities and dissimilarities in employment status after withdrawal from self-employment and from nonstandard employment. The hypotheses were set up by taking into consideration the duality of labor market theory, the years of work experience, the family structure, and the division of labor by gender role. The 2015 SSM survey (the national survey of Social Stratification and social Mobility) data is used. The analyses focus on males and females who have the experience of self-employment or nonstandard employment in the non-agricultural sector. Discrete logit models are applied to “standard employment”, “nonstandard employment” and “unemployment” after withdrawal from self-employment, and to “standard employment”, “self-employment” and “unemployment” after withdrawal from nonstandard employment. The findings of the similarities are as follows. Firstly, they are likely to be limited in movement in the secondary labor market, with the exception that young people are likely to move into the internal labor market. Secondly, the years of work experience in self-employment or nonstandard employment have no effect when moving into standard employment. Thirdly, there are almost no effects from their fathers’ jobs. The dissimilarities are as follows. Firstly, self-employment is seen to be influenced by long-term familial strategy including the presence of grown-up children, but nonstandard employment is seen to be influenced by short-term familial strategy such as childcare. Secondly, the work experience of the self-employed has an effect after moving to nonstandard employment. These dissimilarities have the possibility of easing the changing rate of self-employment in comparison with that of nonstandard employment.
