Who turns to entrepreneurship later in life? - Push and pull in Finnish rural and urban areas

Abstract

[Introduction] Different regions may provide varying opportunities for entrepreneurship (Reynolds et al. 1994; Tervo 2007; Naude et al. 2008), which may also be the case at older ages. Not all places are alike in their potential to generate third-age entrepreneurship partly because of varying demand conditions and human capital and partly because the possibilities for entrepreneurial learning processes differ among regions (cf. Tervo and Niittykangas 1994). In the case of Finland, the rates of self-employment rise with age in both rural and urban areas, with the exception that the rate starts to fall after age 65 in rural areas (Figure 1). In this age group, the overwhelming majority of individuals are no longer in the labour market. These higher rates occur partly because self-employed workers tend to stay longer in the labour force than wage and salary workers. Figure 1 also indicates that transitions to self-employment are most common during middle age. Novice entrepreneurship at older ages is not very common; however, some individuals do start a business later in life. The non-agricultural self-employment rate has been higher in rural than in urban locations and among employed individuals aged 55-74. [Continues. Please see the article]