Yusuf, Afees Olanrewaju (2014) Behavioural aspects of self-employment dynamics. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, the thesis provides both empirical evidence and theoretical explanations to show the nature, behaviour, and roles of job satisfaction and personality on self-employed entrepreneurship survival. The thesis poses three research questions: Does self-employed job satisfaction adapt? Does job satisfaction predict the likelihood of survival of self-employed businesses after start-ups? Does personality play a role in the survival probability of men and women who manage self-employed enterprises? The first question hypothesises that the initial boost in job satisfaction associated with the transition into self-employment is transitory, dissipating rapidly during the early years of the self-employment venture. Findings suggest that men who become self-employed enjoy a more permanent boost in overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with pay and, to some extent, satisfaction with the nature of the work itself. Women experience a boost in satisfaction with the nature of the work itself and to, a lesser extent, a boost in satisfaction with pay. Both of these effects for women are short-lived, casting doubt on the importance of job satisfaction, work-schedule flexibility, and work-life balance as pull factors into self-employment. The second question re-examines the link between job satisfaction and self-employment survival and argues that the relationship is not necessarily a contemporaneous one. That is, job satisfaction at time t is not necessarily the best predictor of survival/exit at time t, but it is the whole self-employment experience that matters rather than the last reported satisfaction. The results show that job satisfaction does not predict the probability of survival. Rather, the maximum job satisfaction and the peak-end combinations during the self-employment episode are better predictors of survival. The last question draws on the robust measures of personality to forecast the survival chances of men and women-managed enterprises, paying attention to occupational differences. Findings show that, unlike previous studies, different personality traits predict men and women-managed ventures survival chances over time; and that the likelihood of survival overtime of both men and women-managed enterprises by occupational categories is dependent on the different personality traits complementing themselves in different scenarios. The thesis contributes to the existing literature by offering a novel behavioural research perspective into the analysis of self-employment dynamics.
Actions (Repository Editors)
 |
Item Control Page |