Questionnaire for ERM CAR on 'Emerging forms of entrepreneurship'

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This contribution identifies the various types of entrepreneurship that are prevalent in the UK policy context and the differing regulatory approaches to them. It also outlines the differing data sources that provide information on entrepreneurs in the UK and their demographics, and also provides information on literature concerning the types of entrepreneurs.

The questionnaire

Part I: Public/policy discussion

General policy discussions and policy approach

Do the public/policy discussions specifically deal with the different forms of business activities, since when and for how long?

Table 1: Presence of the different emerging forms of entrepreneurship in the public debate
	Yes, continuously since xx year? (Please indicate year)	Yes, on and off in the last 10 years (Please indicate yes where it applies)
One-person enterprises /self-employed	1979
Part-time entrepreneurs		1997
Parallel entrepreneurs		1997
Serial entrepreneurs		1997
Business transfers and successions	1979

For each of the entrepreneurship/business activities covered by policy discussions, which policy domains are they covered in? Please indicate with an ’X‘ where relevant.

Table 2: Policy domains engaged in the policy discussion of the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
	Labour policies	Educational policies	Economic/Industrial policies	Innovation policies	Regional policies	Other (please specify)
One-person enterprises /self-employed	x	x	x	x	x	Taxation policy
Part-time entrepreneurs	x	x	x	x	x
Parallel entrepreneurs	x	x	x	x	x
Serial entrepreneurs	x	x	x	x	x
Business transfers and successions			x			Taxation policy (particularly inheritance tax)

In which media and forum do the public debate and policy discussions about the different types of entrepreneurship take place?

Please indicate whether they are implicitly (e.g. publications are covering entrepreneurs in general with implicit implications for the different forms of entrepreneurs/business activities) covered and/or explicitly mentioned (for instance parallel entrepreneurs are explicitly mentioned in publications) in these publications

Table 3: Media and forums discussing the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
	Public media such as newspapers and magazines incl. electronic media	Policy documents and analysis	Proposed legislation and/or business support schemes
One-person enterprises/self-employed	The phenomenon is not seen as a ‘new’ or a ‘growing’ one in the mainstream UK media so it attracts a limited amount of coverage.	The issue of one-person small enterprises continues to occupy a key place in public discourse in the UK. Many labour/taxation policies are benchmarked against the ‘burden’ they are likely to place upon one-person small enterprises. A key critique of the ‘New Labour’ Government that lost the May 2010 election in the UK was that their policies had created an excess burden upon one-person small enterprises.	The programme of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition that was formed in May 2010 includes many proposals that aim to make the regulatory framework for one-person small enterprises more liberal. These proposals include measures on simplification of taxation, and the promotion of small business procurement.
Part-time entrepreneurs	Yes, substantial coverage has been given to the trend in public media outlets. Discussion has centred around the trend of ‘5-9’ entrepreneurs and the alleged growth of the trend.	Little explicit mention is given to part-time entrepreneurs. The issues that affect part-time entrepreneurs tend to be implicitly covered in the discussion concerning general entrepreneurship issues.	The new UK coalition Government have announced plans to end the ban on social tenants starting businesses in their own homes.
Parallel entrepreneurs	Some coverage has been given to this.	Little explicit mention is given to parallel entrepreneurs. The issues that affect parallel entrepreneurs tend to be implicitly covered in the discussion concerning general entrepreneurship issues.	No specific policies related to parallel entrepreneurs.
Serial entrepreneurs	Coverage has been given to this. Serial Entrepreneurs moving from sectors perceived to be growing suddenly (i.e. the dot.com sector) have attracted particular attention.	Some discussion is given to the extent which it is deemed ‘easy’ to establish businesses with regard to existing regulatory frameworks. The subject of the stringency of the UK bankruptcy laws (specifically the Enterprise Act of 2002), and the extent to which they make it difficult for serial entrepreneurs, have also been discussed	The new UK coalition Government have announced plans to make it far easier for individuals to set up new businesses.
Business transfers and successions	There has been limited coverage of this.	The issue of inheritance tax has been discussed greatly in recent years in the UK. Debate has centred on the level of income above which inheritance tax should be paid.	The UK Conservative Party, the largest party in the current UK coalition Government, included in their manifesto for the May 2010 election a pledge to raise the level at which inheritance tax is paid to 1 million GBP. The subsequent formation of a coalition Government in the UK, meant that the proposal was not explicitly referred to in the programme of the new Government. It is unclear as of July 2010 whether the reform will be pursued in the coming years.

Specific topics to describe the different types of entrepreneurship

What has motivated the public debate?

Please specify for each of the five forms of entrepreneurship:

Table 4: What has motivated the public debate of the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
Type of Entrepreneurship	Motivator
One-person enterprises/self-employed	Concern over level of regulatory burden or ‘red-tape’ that has been placed upon one-person entrepreneurs. Debate has focused upon the level of administrative demands that are placed upon one-person enterprises and the ability of individuals to cope with the workload
Part-time entrepreneurs	There has been little explicit debate on this topic in the UK policy context. Debate has been implicitly conducted within general debates on entrepreneurship.
Parallel entrepreneurs	There has been little explicit debate on this topic in the UK policy context. Debate has been implicitly conducted within general debates on entrepreneurship.
Serial entrepreneurs	The ability of individuals to start up new enterprises has been debated. Specifically, complex financial/registration procedures have been identified as impeding the ability of individuals to start up new businesses. Also, UK bankruptcy regulations that are place limits upon individuals to start-up new businesses have been compared negatively to other more liberal regulatory regimes.
Business transfers and successions	Debate has focussed on the issue of inheritance tax and its fairness. Critics of the existing regime have stated that tax on the transfer of businesses to relatives is unfair and inefficient and likely to place intolerable burdens upon entrepreneurs.

What has been the focus of the policy discussion?

To help you answer question 5, we list some examples of key issues that could be addressed in the policy discussion:

Please specify for each of the five forms of entrepreneurship:

Table 5: The policy focus in the public debate within each of the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
Type of Entrepreneurship	Policy focus
One-person enterprises/self-employed	Administrative burdens upon such entrepreneurs/Rates of business tax/promoting entrepreneurship
Part-time entrepreneurs	Administrative burdens upon such entrepreneurs/promoting entrepreneurship
Parallel entrepreneurs	Administrative burdens upon such entrepreneurs/promoting entrepreneurship
Serial entrepreneurs	Bankruptcy laws/Regulating illegal business activities
Business transfers and successions	Inheritance tax/Education – awareness raising and training

Has the public discussion resulted in a concrete outcome/impact?

No:

Yes:

Please specify for each of the five forms of entrepreneurship:

Table 6: Outcome or impact of the public debate of the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
Type of Entrepreneurship	Outcome/Impact
One-person enterprises/self-employed	The programme of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition that was formed in May 2010 includes many proposals that aim to make the regulatory framework for one-person entrepreneurs more liberal. These proposals include measures on simplification of taxation, and the promotion of small business procurement.
Part-time entrepreneurs	The new UK coalition Government has announced plans to end the ban on social tenants starting businesses in their own homes.
Parallel entrepreneurs	No specific policies related to parallel entrepreneurs.
Serial entrepreneurs	The new UK coalition Government has announced plans to make it far easier for individuals to set up new businesses.
Business transfers and successions	The UK Conservative Party, the largest party in the current UK coalition Government, included in their manifesto for the May 2010 election a pledge to raise the level at which inheritance tax is paid to 1 million GBP. The subsequent formation of a coalition Government in the UK, meant that the proposal was not explicitly referred to in the programme of the new Government. It is unclear as of July 2010 whether the reform will be pursued in the coming years.

Overall assessment

Within the last couple of years, to which extent has the public and policy discussion been more focused on the following different types of entrepreneurship compared to the business policy/entrepreneurship debate in general?

Table 7: Increased focus at the emerging forms of entrepreneurship?
	To a low degree To a high degree
	1	2	3	4	5
One-person enterprises/self-employed				x
Part-time entrepreneurs		x
Parallel entrepreneurs		x
Serial entrepreneurs			x
Business transfers and successions				x

Please list the main sources of information in the search for the above

Academic publications (listed in bibliography)

n/a

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

http://www.bis.gov.uk/

The Financial Times

The Guardian

Part II: Standardised structural data

Which standardised business statistics are available covering the different forms of entrepreneurship/business activities (explicitly or implicitly, i.e. also data that could be used to describe these forms of entrepreneurship without being published with this specific objective/heading)?

Table 8: Availability of business statistics about the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
	Type of data available Indicate access to data by an ‘X’ in the first column		First published Indicate year	Time series of data (Biannually, annually, quarterly, monthly, once only, other)	Data source for the data
One-person enterprises/ self-employed	Number of enterprises	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Enterprises by branch (please specify which NACE code digit level is available) data for all NACE code digit levels is available	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Availability of regional data (please specify) FAME includes information on the geographical region of the UK in which relevant firms operate	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Type of ownership of enterprises (sole propriety, limited company, publically listed company, etc)	x	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Economic performance e.g.:
	Turnover	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Exports
	Employment	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Others: ___________
	Sustainability:
	Number of new enterprises (start-ups) by year	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Number of discontinued enterprises, incl. bankruptcies –	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	survival rate of enterprises	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Others, specify:
Part-time entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Enterprises by branch (please specify which NACE code digit level is available)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Availability of regional data (please specify)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Type of ownership of enterprises (sole propriety, limited company, publically listed company, etc)	x	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Economic performance e.g.:
	Turnover	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Exports
	Employment	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Others: ___________
	Sustainability:
	Number of new enterprises (start-ups) by year	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Number of discontinued enterprises, incl. bankruptcies –	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Survival rate of enterprises	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Others, specify:
Parallel entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Enterprises by branch (please specify which NACE code digit level is available)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Availability of regional data (please specify)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Type of ownership of enterprises (sole propriety, limited company, publically listed company, etc)	x	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Economic performance e.g.:
	Turnover	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Exports
	Employment	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Others: ___________
	Sustainability:
	Number of new enterprises (start-ups) by year	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Number of discontinued enterprises, incl. bankruptcies –	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	survival rate of enterprises	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Others, specify:
Serial entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Enterprises by branch (please specify which NACE code digit level is available)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Availability of regional data (please specify)	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Type of ownership of enterprises (sole propriety, limited company, publically listed company, etc)	x	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Economic performance e.g.:
	Turnover	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Exports
	Employment	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Others: ___________
	Sustainability:
	Number of new enterprises (start-ups) by year	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Number of discontinued enterprises, incl. bankruptcies –	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	survival rate of enterprises	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Others, specify:
Business transfers and successions	Number of enterprises
	Enterprises by branch (please specify which NACE code digit level is available)
	Availability of regional data (please specify)
	Type of ownership of enterprises (sole propriety, limited company, publically listed company, etc)
	Economic performance e.g.:
	Turnover	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Exports
	Employment	X	2010	Quarterly	Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)
	Others: ___________
	Sustainability:
	Number of new enterprises (start-ups) by year	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Number of discontinued enterprises, incl. bankruptcies –	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	survival rate of enterprises	X	2010	Annual	Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)
	Others, specify:

Is it possible to crosstab or merge the demographic data identifying the individual persons running any of the five forms of entrepreneurships/business activities with the company data specified in question 9 in a common database for analytical purpose?

No:

Table 9: Availability of demographic statistics about the entrepreneur within the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
	Type of data available Indicated access to data by an ‘X’ in the first column		First published Indicate year	Time series of data (Biannually, annually, quarterly, monthly, once only, other)	Data source for the data
One-person enterprises/ self-employed	Number of enterprises held by each entrepreneur/owner
	Gender	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Ethnicity	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Civic status (married, single, children)
	Age	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Geographical location
	Educational background (last registered education)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Current/previous employment of entrepreneurs (business experience)
	Sector familiarity of the entrepreneur – branch/NACE	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Working hours of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Income of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Other types of data (Specify):
Part-time entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises held by each entrepreneur/owner	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Gender	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Ethnicity	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Civic status (married, single, children)
	Age	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Geographical location	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Educational background (last registered education)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Current/previous employment of entrepreneurs (business experience)
	Sector familiarity of the entrepreneur – branch/NACE	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Working hours of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Income of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Other types of data (Specify):
Parallel entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises held by each entrepreneur/owner	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Gender	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Ethnicity	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Civic status (married, single, children)
	Age	X 2009 Quarterly UK Labour Force Survey	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Geographical location	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Educational background (last registered education)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Current/previous employment of entrepreneurs (business experience)
	Sector familiarity of the entrepreneur – branch/NACE	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Working hours of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Income of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Other types of data (Specify):
Serial entrepreneurs	Number of enterprises held by each entrepreneur/owner	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Gender	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Ethnicity	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Civic status (married, single, children)
	Age	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Geographical location	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Educational background (last registered education)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Current/previous employment of entrepreneurs (business experience)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Sector familiarity of the entrepreneur – branch/NACE	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Working hours of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Income of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Other types of data (Specify):
Business transfers and successions	Number of enterprises held by each entrepreneur/owner	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Gender	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Ethnicity	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Civic status (married, single, children)
	Age	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Geographical location	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Educational background (last registered education)	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Current/previous employment of entrepreneurs (business experience)
	Sector familiarity of the entrepreneur – branch/NACE	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Working hours of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Income of the entrepreneur	X	2009	Quarterly	UK Labour Force Survey
	Other types of data (Specify):

Is the data freely accessible or does it require registration, payment and/or a special effort to access the data? Please explain the accessibility for each of the forms of entrepreneurs/business activities and datasets referred to above.

Table 10: List of statistical sources about the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
List data source/dataset	Explain the accessibility
UK Labour Force Survey	Freely accessible
Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME)	Freely accessible
Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)	Freely accessible
Value Added Tax (VAT) Register	Freely accessible

Part III: Research

Please describe studies and research available nationally for each of the forms of entrepreneurs/business activities.

Table 11: List of studies and research about the emerging forms of entrepreneurship
	List the references (author’s name, title of publication etc, year of publication, organisation)	A short summary of the contents (e.g. topic covered, methodology applied)
One-person enterprises/self-employed	Bernhardt, I. (1994), ‘Comparative advantage in self-employment and paid work’, Lindsay, C. and Macaulay, C. (2004), ‘Growth in self-employment in the UK’, Labour Market Trends, Office for National Statistics, October, pp. 399-404. Taylor, M. (2004), 'Self-employment in Britain: when, who and why?, Swedish Economic Policy Review, 11(2), Fall, pp. 141-173.	Comparative study of forms of self-employment Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK
Part-time entrepreneurs	Hamilton, B. H. (2000), ‘Does entrepreneurship pay? An empirical analysis of the returns to self-employment’, Journal of Political Economy, 108(3), pp. 604-631 Lindsay, C. and Macaulay, C. (2004), ‘Growth in self-employment in the UK’, Labour Market Trends, Office for National Statistics, October, pp. 399-404. Taylor, M. (2004), 'Self-employment in Britain: when, who and why?, Swedish Economic Policy Review, 11(2), Fall, pp. 141-173.	Comparative study of forms of self-employment Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK
Parallel entrepreneurs	Hamilton, B. H. (2000), ‘Does entrepreneurship pay? An empirical analysis of the returns to self-employment’, Journal of Political Economy, 108(3), pp. 604-631 Lindsay, C. and Macaulay, C. (2004), ‘Growth in self-employment in the UK’, Labour Market Trends, Office for National Statistics, October, pp. 399-404. Taylor, M. (2004), 'Self-employment in Britain: when, who and why?, Swedish Economic Policy Review, 11(2), Fall, pp. 141-173.	Comparative study of forms of self-employment Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK Discusses the forms of self-employment that have grown in the UK
Serial entrepreneurs	Westhead/Ucbasaran/Wright/Binks , 2005: ‘Novice, serial and portfolioentrepreneur behaviour and contributions’ Small Business Economics Alsos/Kolvereid, 1998: ‘The Business Gestation Process of Novice,Serial and Parallel Business Founders’ Ucbasaran/Westhead/Wright, 2006: ‘Habitual Entrepreneurs’ Birley/Westhead, 1993: A comparison of new businesses established bynovice and habitual founders in Great Britain, International Small Business Journal Hall, 1995: Habitual owners of small businesses, in:Critten/Robertson/Marshal: Small firms: partnerships for growth, London:Paul Chapman Westhead/Wright, 1998: ‘Novice, service and portfolio founders: arethey different?’ Journal of Business Venturing	Identifies differing behaviours amongst new and serial entrepreneurs Identifies differing trends amongst types of entrepreneurs Discusses trends amongst serial entrepreneurs Discusses trends amongst serial entrepreneurs Discusses trends amongst serial entrepreneurs Identifies differing behaviours amongst new and serial entrepreneurs
Business transfers and successions	No publications found

Thomas Prosser, University of Warwick

Page last updated: 21 March, 2011

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About this document

ID: UK1009039Q
Author: Thomas Prosser
Institution: University of Warwick
Country: United Kingdom
Language: EN
Publication date: 22-03-2011