Who Goes Freelance? The Determinants of Self-Employment for Artists
Abstract
This study examines the self-employment behavior of artists. Using data from the Current Population Survey between 2003 and 2015, we estimate a series of logit models to predict transitions from paid employment to self-employment in the arts. The results show that artists disproportionately freelance and frequently switch in and out of self-employment compared to all other professional workers. We also find that artists exhibit unique entrepreneurial profiles, particularly in terms of their demographic and employment characteristics. In particular, artist workers are considerably more likely to attain self-employment status when living in a city with a high saturation of artist occupations.
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Biographies
Joanna Woronkowicz is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Douglas S. Noonan is a Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
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Article first published online: September 29, 2017
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