|
Field
Paper Abstract
|
Before
|
After
We conduct a large-scale experiment in the labor market using more than 8,000 fictitious resumes to uncover the demand-side mechanisms behind the wage penalty for the self-employed. We find that self-employed individuals, compared to wage earners, are subject to adverse treatment across different occupations. This adverse treatment is concentrated in the lower-skilled, non-managerial market. This differential treatment, conditional on managerial skills, also holds for different occupational levels and increases with the length of self-employment experience. The results suggest that self-employment leads to the development of generalist skills (useful for managerial roles) at the cost of specialist skills.
|