From a dynamic, life course perspective, this study examines the determinants of nonfarm self-employment for Japanese men from around the 1930s to 1975. Using work histories in a national mobility survey, the author studied the propensity of becoming self-employed at labor force entry and in later career. Results suggest that (a) father's self-employment is important; but (b) family-employed status does not enhance one's chances; and (c) historical, economic conditions affect propensity significantly at the moment of labor force entrance. Tiny-firm workers are more likely to move into self-employment. Industrial sector and employment duration also affect one's taking nonfarm self-employment as a career option.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichH.E.SakanoT.1993. “Unbroken Ties: How the Personal Networks of Japanese Business Owners Compare to Those in Other Nations.” Presented at the Vancouver Network Conference, Whisler, British Columbia.
2.
AldrichH.E.WaldingerR.1990. “Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship.”Annual Review of Sociology16:111–135.
3.
AllisonP.D.1982. “Discrete-Time Methods for the Analysis of Event Histories.” Pp. 61–98 in Sociological Methodology: 1982, edited by LeinhardtSamuel. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
4.
AllisonP.D.1984. Event History Analysis: Regression for Longitudinal Event Data. Sage University Paper Series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07–046. Beverly Hill, CA: Sage.
5.
AronsonR.L.1991. Self-Employment: A Labor Market Perspective. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.
6.
AverittR.T.1968. The Dual Economy: The Dynamics of American Industrial Structure. New York: Norton.
7.
BeckerE.1984. “Self-Employed Workers: An Update to 1983.”Monthly Labor Review107 (7):14–18.
8.
BlandR.ElliottB.BechholferF.1978. “Social Mobility in the Petite Bourgeoisie.”Acta Sociologica21:229–248.
9.
BorjasGeorge. 1986. “The Self-Employment Experience of Immigrants.” National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA. Working Paper No. 1942.
10.
BolthoA.1975. Japan: An Economic Survey: 1953–1973. London: Oxford University Press.
11.
BroadbridgeS.1966. Industrial Dualism in Japan: A Problem of Economic Growth and Structural Change. Chicago: Aldine.
12.
BrockW.A.EvansD.S.PhillipsB.D.1986. The Economics of Small Businesses: Their Role and Regulation in the U.S. Economy. New York: Holmes and Meier.
13.
CarrollG.R.MayerK.U.1986. “Job-Shift Patterns in the Federal Republic of Germany: The Effects of Social Class, Industrial Sector and Organizational Size.”American Sociological Review51:323–341.
14.
CarrollG.R.MosakowskiE.1987. “The Career Dynamics of Self-Employment.”Administrative Science Quarterly32:570–589.
15.
ChalmersN.J.1989. Industrial Relations in Japan: The Peripheral Workforce. London: Routledge.
16.
ColeR.E.1971. Japanese Blue Collar: The Changing Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press.
17.
ColeR.E.1979. Work, Mobility and Participation: A Comparative Study of American and Japanese Industry. Berkeley: University of California Press.
18.
CovickO.1983. “Self-Employment Growth in Australia.” Pp. 84–110 in Understanding Labour Markets in Australia, edited by BlandyR.CovickO.Sydney, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
19.
DoranA.1980. Some Aspects of Public Policies Towards Small Business in Japan. Prepared for Shell UK Ltd. [London]: Economists Advisory Group Ltd..
20.
EdenD.1975. “Organizational Membership vs. Self-Employment: Another Blow to the American Dream.”Organizational Behavior and Human Performance13:79–94.
21.
ElderG.H.Jr.MeguroY.1987. “Wartime in Men's Lives: A Comparative Study of American and Japanese Cohorts.”International Journal of Behavioral Development10:439–466.
22.
EvansD.G.LeightonL.1989. “Some Empirical Aspects of Entrepreneurship.”American Economic Review79:519–535.
23.
FainT.S.1980. “Self-Employed Americans: Their Number Has Increased.”Monthly Labor Review103 (11):3–8.
24.
FormW.1982. “Self-Employed Manual Workers: Petty Bourgeois or Working Class?”Social Forces60:1050–1069.
25.
Institute of Population Problems. 1992. Latest Demographic Statistics 1992. Tokyo: Ministry of Health and Welfare, Research Series, No. 273.
26.
International Labor Office. 1992. Year Book of Labor Statistics. Geneva.
27.
IshidaH.1993. Social Mobility in Contemporary Japan: Educational Credentials, Class, and the Labour Market in A Cross-National Perspective. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
28.
KallebergA.L.1986. “Entrepreneurship in the 1980s: A Study of Small Business in Indiana.”Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Economic Growth1:157–189.
29.
KallebergA.L.BergI.1988. “Work Structures and Markets: An Analytic Framework.” Pp. 3–17 in Industries, Firms, and Jobs: Sociological and Economic Approaches, edited by FarkasG.EnglandP.New York: Plenum Press.
30.
KoikeK.1983. “Workers in Small Firms and Women in Industry.” Pp. 89–115 in Contemporary Industrial Relations in Japan, edited by ShiraiT.Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
31.
KurosakaY.1989. “The Japanese Economy and the Labor Market.”Japanese Economic Studies17 (4):3–40.
32.
LightI.1984. “Immigrant and Ethnic Enterprise in North America.”Ethnic and Racial Studies7:195–216.
33.
LoscoccoK.A.RobinsonJ.1991“Barriers to Women's Small-Business Success in the United States.”Gender and Society5:511–532.
34.
MinamiR.1986. The Economic Development of Japan: A Quantitative Study. New York: St. Martin's Press.
35.
OkochiK.KarshB.LevineS.B.1974. Workers and Employers in Japan: The Japanese Employment Relations System. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press and Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press.
36.
QuinnJ.F.1980. “Labor Force Participation Patterns of Older Self-Employed Workers.”Social Security Bulletin43 (4):17–28.
37.
RebickM.E.1989. “After-Lifetime Employment in Japan.” Unpublished manuscript, Cornell University, School of Industrial Labor Relations.
38.
ScaseR.GoffeeR.1982. The Entrepreneurial Middle Class. London: Croom Helm Ltd..
39.
SekiguchiS.1986. “Industrial Policy in Japan: Interactions Between Policies and Dualist Structure.” Pp. 230–256 in Japan's Response to Crisis and Change in the World Economy, edited by SchmiegelowMichele. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
40.
BureauStatistics. 1987. Japan Statistical Yearbook. [Tokyo]: Sorifu, Tokeikyoku.
41.
StevenR.1983. Classes in Contemporary Japan. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
42.
StinchcombeA.L.1979. “Social Mobility in Industrial Labor Markets.”Acta Sociologica22:217–245.
43.
TairaK.1970. Economic Development and the Labor Market in Japan. New York: Columbia University Press.
44.
TokutaroY. (Ed.) 1971. Small Business in Japan's Economic Progress. Tokyo: Asahi Evening News.
45.
TominagaK.1968. “Occupational Mobility in Tokyo” Pp. 180–194 in Comparative Perspectives on Stratification: Mexico, Great Britain, Japan, edited by KahlJ.A.Boston: Little, Brown.
46.
TominagaK.1975. Social Stratification and Mobility Survey, 1975. [Machine-Readable Data Files]. Los Angeles, CA: Institute for Social Science Research, University of California, Los Angeles (distributor).
47.
WaldingerR.D.AldrichH.E.WardR.1990. Ethnic Entrepreneurs: Immigrant Business in Industrial Societies. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
