Table 2 Measurement of independent and explanatory variables a
From: Why is there a gender earnings gap in self-employment? A decomposition analysis with German data
Earnings | The exact questions asked were: For self-employed: “Now to your monthly gross earnings. We do not mean your monthly turnover or profit. Do not include child allowance, please. What are your monthly gross earnings from your work as < job of interviewee > ?” For paid employees: “Now to your monthly gross earnings, i.e. your wage before taxes and social security contributions. Do not include child allowance, please. What are your monthly gross earnings from your work as < job of interviewee > ?” |
Formal education | 6 dummies: no vocational degree (reference), no vocational degree but FHR (“Fachhochschulreife”) or “Abitur”, vocational training (“Berufsausbildung”), vocational training and FHR or “Abitur”, vocational college (“Fachschule”), university degree or university of applied science (“Fachhochschule”). “Abitur” is the German university entrance qualification, “Fachhochschulreife” the German university of applied science entrance qualification. |
Working experience | Years since having been employed for the first time. |
Working intermissions | Total number of years of working intermissions. As intermissions considered are: unemployment, parental leave, military/civilian service, voluntary social year, times of vocational training. Not counted as intermissions are: times of further education, paid maternity leave, times of sickness. |
Tenure at current job | Self-employed: Years running the current business. Paid employees: Years working at the current workplace. |
Number of changes of profession | The exact question asked was: “Taking all jobs together: How many different professions, i.e. professions that differ fundamentally with respect to the kind of work, have you been performing since your first job in the year < year when first being employed > ?” |
Working hours | Average usual weekly working hours including overtime, on-call duty, etc. If no answer to usual weekly working time was provided this variable contains last week’s actual working hours. |
Working time flexibility | The exact question asked was: “Are you able to take family and private interests into account at your working time scheduling?” Possible answers: often, sometimes, never. 3 dummies, reference: never. |
Life partner | If interviewee was married he/she was asked whether he/she lived together with his/her spouse. If interviewee was not married or did not live together with his/her spouse he/she was asked whether he/she lived together with a partner. Dummy = 1 indicates that interviewee lives together with a spouse/partner. |
Young children | Dummy indicating whether children aged 0–5 live in the household. |
High career aspirations | The exact question asked was: “How important is it for you to get ahead at work, resp. to make a career?” Possible answers: essential, very important, fairly important, not very important, not at all important. Dummy: 1 = essential/very important/fairly important, 0 = not very important/not at all important. |
Tasks occurring at work | For 17 groups of tasks (e.g. “nursing, parenting, healing”, “monitoring and governing machines, facilities or technical processes”) it was asked whether that task occurred at work sometimes, often or never. 17 dummies: 1 = often/sometimes, 0 = never. |
Firm size | 8 dummies: 1, 2, 3–4, 5–9 (reference), 10–19, 20–49, 50–99, 100 and more employees. The number of employees includes the owner of the firm. |
Professional field | 54 dummies according to the classification of professional fields of the Federal Institute of Vocational Education and Training, Bonn (see Tiemann et al. 2008). |