City Research Online

Spatio-temporal un-boundedness: A feature, not a bug, of self-employment

Cohen, R. L. ORCID: 0000-0003-4560-1590 (2019). Spatio-temporal un-boundedness: A feature, not a bug, of self-employment. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(2), pp. 262-284. doi: 10.1177/0002764218794781

Abstract

This article considers whether unbounded times and spaces of work are systematically associated with self-employment. In contrast to analyses that frame the spatial and temporal location of work as signifying autonomy or freedom, it posits that self-employment is produced by, and then reproduces, constraints on and preferences about spatio-temporal organisation at both occupational and individual level. Using data from five years of the UK Labour Force Survey (2013-17) the article takes a novel approach in the quantitative analysis of self-employment by conducting intra-occupational analysis within each of four relatively homogenous occupational groups: hairdressers, shopkeepers, arts workers and accountants. Analysis shows that: 1) at population-level self-employment is strongly associated with both spatial and temporal unboundedness; 2) these effects are stronger for women than men; 3) in intra-occupational analyses, gender, alongside other socio-demographic measures, is largely non-significant, suggesting that the relationship between these and self-employment is primarily produced by differences associated with occupational segregation; 4) the association between self-employment and different types of spatio-temporal unboundedness varies markedly by occupation. The article points to the importance of occupation and the spatio-temporal organisation of concrete work activity in understanding the reproduction of self-employment. It concludes, therefore, that spatio-temporal unboundedness should be considered as a feature, or structural component, of self-employment, not a choice or by-product.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: Cohen, R. L. (2018). Spatio-temporal un-boundedness: A feature, not a bug, of self-employment. American Behavioral Scientist, Copyright © 2018 The Author. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.
Publisher Keywords: Work-life boundaries, working time, gender, self-employment, occupation
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Departments: School of Policy & Global Affairs > Sociology & Criminology
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of Cohen%20-%20ABS%20-%20Spatio-temporal%20unboundedness%20and%20Self-Employment%20-%202018-7-16.pdf]
Preview
Text - Accepted Version
Download (409kB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login