<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>We present experimental evidence on the effects of entrepreneurship training for unemployed workers in the U.S. at two different stages in the business cycle. In the context of a strong economy, training helped training participants – particularly those with prior self-employment experience – to start a business and become self-employed, while it may have persuaded others to pursue salary employment instead. During the Great Recession, training helped training participants become self-employed, particularly those with no prior self-employment experience. Regardless of economic conditions, positive impacts on self-employment were partly or largely offset by reductions in regular employment. These findings indicate that entrepreneurship training may help unemployed workers to become self-employed at different stages of the business cycle, but there is weak evidence that it can be an effective policy for combating unemployment, particularly during recessions.</p></abstract>

We present experimental evidence on the effects of entrepreneurship training for unemployed workers in the U.S. at two different stages in the business cycle. In the context of a strong economy, training helped training participants – particularly those with prior self-employment experience – to start a business and become self-employed, while it may have persuaded others to pursue salary employment instead. During the Great Recession, training helped training participants become self-employed, particularly those with no prior self-employment experience. Regardless of economic conditions, positive impacts on self-employment were partly or largely offset by reductions in regular employment. These findings indicate that entrepreneurship training may help unemployed workers to become self-employed at different stages of the business cycle, but there is weak evidence that it can be an effective policy for combating unemployment, particularly during recessions.

From unemployment to self-employment: The role of entrepreneurship training

IZA Journal of Labor Policy

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"From unemployment to self-employment: The role of entrepreneurship training"}

We present experimental evidence on the effects of entrepreneurship training for unemployed workers in the U.S. at two different stages in the business cycle....

From unemployment to self-employment: The role of entrepreneurship training

Published Online: Dec 17, 2020

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2020-0018

Keywords
Great Recession, self-employment, entrepreneurship, start-up, small business, entrepreneurship training, unemployment, policy evaluation, reemployment

© 2020 Marios Michaelides and Scott Davis, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

From unemployment to self-employment: The role of entrepreneurship training

Published Online: Dec 17, 2020

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2020-0018

KeywordsGreat Recession, self-employment, entrepreneurship, start-up, small business, entrepreneurship training, unemployment, policy evaluation, reemployment

© 2020 Marios Michaelides and Scott Davis, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Great Recession, self-employment, entrepreneurship, start-up, small business, entrepreneurship training, unemployment, policy evaluation, reemployment