Essays on the self-employed in the Netherlands and Europe

This dissertation consists of three essays, each aiming to better understand the heterogeneity among self-employed individuals, and the potential implications of self-employment over the life-cycle for individuals’ pension preparedness. The first essay models the transitions into and out of self-employment in the Netherlands. The results show that simulations that project future pension incomes and pension adequacy should account for labour market dynamics because the paths that “static” projections assume are not representative for many individuals. The second essay studies realised labour market trajectories of Dutch individuals using the technique of sequence analysis. Seven distinct clusters of self-employment experiences over the life-cycle can be identified. These are associated with different financial outcomes, implying that targeted policies are needed to address retirement income adequacy of the self-employed. The last essay studies self-employment careers and financial well-being in old age across several European cohorts. Overall, the results show that individuals that were mostly self-employed during their career are on average more frequently observed to have financial difficulties after retirement