Is there a North-South divide in self-employment in England?

Burke, Andrew E.; Fitzroy, Felix R.; Nolan, Michael A.

Abstract

Using decomposition analysis, the paper investigates why Northern England has fewer but higher performing self-employed individuals than the South. It is found that the causes are mainly structural differences rather than regional variation in individual characteristics. There are more self-employed individuals in the South, but on average they create fewer jobs. Post-compulsory education has a strong negative effect on the probability of self-employment in the South, probably due to better employment opportunities there, but little influence in the North. Education has some positive effects on job creation by entrepreneurs in both regions. Aggregate studies might thus give misleading results. © 2009 Regional Studies Association.

Citation

Burke, A. E., Fitzroy, F. R., & Nolan, M. A. (2009). Is there a North-South divide in self-employment in England?. Regional studies, 43(4), 529-544. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400701827360

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 4, 2009
• Publication Date: May 1, 2009
• Journal: REGIONAL STUDIES
• Print ISSN: 0034-3404
• Electronic ISSN: 1360-0591
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 529-544
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400701827360
• Keywords: Self-employment; Job creation; North–South divide; Decomposition
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/387241
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343400701827360