Essays on the Self-Employed in the Netherlands and Europe

As apparent from its title – Essays on the Self-Employed in the Netherlands and Europe – this doctoral thesis’ focus lies on the self-employed. To be more precise, the three essays presented here study the dynamics of self-employment in the labour market and the resulting career trajectories over time.
The motivation for this thesis lies in the recent increase in the number of self-employed in the Netherlands and the resulting concerns of policy makers about the impact of this increase on the social security system. One particular concern are the pensions, as most self-employed, unlike
the majority of employees, are excluded from participating in the second pillar of mandatory occupational pensions. Instead they are expected to make sufficient provisions for their old age voluntarily (the third pillar). As mandatory pension savings and career decisions are therefore directly linked with each other, it is important to understand which individuals are more likely to remain in self-employment – the subject of the first essay. Moreover, it is also important to understand how career trajectories are related with income, savings, and financial well-being – the subject of the second and third essay.

This thesis was partly funded by Instituut Gak.