Edinburgh Napier University

  This report provides an overview of the policy literature on self-employment and entrepreneurship, focusing on young people in Europe with a particular focus on six European Union (EU, hereafter) Member States: Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. It is the deliverable for Task 1 of Work Package 7, Self-Employment. First, we examine the range of definitions of self-employment. The importance of differentiating between self-employment and entrepreneurship is emphasised. Second, we provide an overview of EU and national level policies to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship with a focus on the six EU Member States (six study countries, hereafter) in the study. Third, we critically examine concerns associated with the quality of self-employed work. This highlights some of the problems associated with earnings, working hours, enterprise sustainability and the potential job creation capacity for start-ups. Finally, to facilitate country case studies, the key research questions of the study are presented.