Self-Employment in Italy: Scaling the Class Barriers

Abstract

Data from the 1997 Italian Households Longitudinal Survey (ILFI) are used to study the determinants of self-employment in Italy from 1980 to 1997.First, a discussion of the composite nature of self-employment in Italy is offered. This discussion stresses self-employment's roots in the artisan- and small-firm-based national production structure, the crisis of the Fordist mode of production, and the subsequent expansion of the service economy. The data, which are based on the employment histories of 9,874 survey respondents between the ages of 18 and60, are then described and analyzed. Findings suggest that self-employment in Italy is male-dominated and that age affects female entries into self-employment more than it does male entries. The data also indicate that secondary and tertiary education is capital for self-employed professionals and freelancers. In the case of unskilled self-employment, compulsory education is the most important. Perhaps not surprisingly, children of self-employed parents are more likely to enter into self-employment. Those who leave self-employment are mainly women, young people, workers with a general secondary education, and those with unstable work histories.