Self-employment, retirement, and education

This dissertation consists of three essays on self-employment that focus on the three topics discussed below. The first essay analyzes the transition of workers into part-time or self-employed bridge jobs. First, it models the determinants of the transition, focusing on whether the worker voluntarily or involuntarily left their career job. Second, since many bridge job workers leave their career occupation or industry, the paper analyzes the factors that correlate with this change. The findings suggest that involuntary departure from a worker's career affects the determinants of bridge job employment, but not necessarily the worker's occupation or industry choice. Alternative explanations of the factors that impact sector choice are explored.;The second essay extends the previous research on educational mismatch that estimates the determinants and consequences of mismatch for wage and salary workers. This essay examines the far less studied influence of mismatch on the self-employed. Using a sample of workers in science and engineering fields, results show larger earnings penalties for mismatch among the self-employed but no diminution in job satisfaction. Moreover, the reasons for mismatch among the self-employed differ dramatically by gender.;The third essay examines the differences in the returns to education by gender in self- employment. Compared to self-employed men, self-employed women have more education but considerably lower earnings, and thus lower returns to education. This essay finds evidence that men typically benefit from a complementary relationship between education and earnings. However, women are heterogenous in their returns to education. Women who self-employ in traditionally female occupations do not benefit from this complementary relationship, and women who self-employ in traditionally male occupations earn returns that are more similar to the male experience.