On the nature of micro-entrepreneurship: Evidence from Argentina

We analyse the nature of micro-entrepreneurship in Argentina. We focus on whether the sector resembles its counterpart in industrialized countries, characterized by the risk-taking nature of the entrepreneurial activity, or if it is the result of labour market distortions and disguised unemployment, as in the dual economy hypothesis. Our results suggest a segmentation of the micro-entrepreneur sector. Both young uneducated and middle aged highly educated salaried workers have the highest likelihood of becoming entrepreneurs. However, the first segment has a high probability of becoming own-account workers, while the probability of becoming micro-entrepreneurs with employees is strictly increasing in both age and education. Moreover, the probability of entrepreneur failure (as measured by the transition to the salaried sector) has an inverted U shape, implying that both high and low skill individuals are more likely to remain entrepreneurs.