Cover: Transitions to Self-Employment at Older Ages

Transitions to Self-Employment at Older Ages

The Role of Wealth, Health, Health Insurance, and Other Factors

Published in: Labour Economics, v. 14, issue 2, April 2007, p. 269-295

Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2007

by Julie Zissimopoulos, Lynn A. Karoly

Relatively little research has been devoted to studying self-employment among older workers although they make up a disproportionate share of the self-employed workforce. This study uses 5 waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study to investigate the determinants of labor force transitions to self-employment at older ages. We estimate a multinomial logit model of transitions from wage and salary employment to self-employment, retirement or not working. Results are compared with those found in previous studies. New findings on the impact of health on transitions to self-employment are highlighted.

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