Self-employment or paid employment as the first job Evidence from Spain by nationality

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to offer new empirical evidence for Spain about the transition into self-employment or paid employment of potential entrants to the labor market and their duration in both segments of the market. Design/methodology/approach - The econometric methodology consists of estimating discrete-choice models and survival models, controlling for personal characteristics, job characteristics, and unobserved heterogeneity. Findings - One of the main results of this paper is that the immigrants are a disadvantaged group with regard to entry into self-employment as a first job. Moreover, once they enter self-employment, they are more likely than native Spaniards to exit from it. Practical implications - The results obtained in this paper are of interest to policy makers seeking to design economic policies that promote the assimilation of immigrants into the Spanish labor market. Originality/value - The topic discussed in this paper and the distinction made by the workers according to nationality is unknown in economic literature in Spain.