In der Volkswirtschaftslehre wird das Unternehmertum als treibende Kraft hinter dem Prozess kreativer Zerstörung betrachtet, die Innovationen in den Markt einführt, ineffiziente Betriebe verdrängt, und so den Grundstein für das Wachstum der Wirtschaft legt. Ein wesentlicher Bestandteil unternehmerischen Handelns ist die Gründung neuer Firmen (Carree & Thurik, 2003). Die Ursachen und Auswirkungen von Firmengründungen sind daher Gegenstand zahlreicher empirischer Studien (Geroski, 1995; Wagner, 2006). Begutachtet man die Bedeutung dieser Start-ups für die volkswirtschaftliche Entwicklung, so nimmt ihr Beitrag zur Schaffung und Vernichtung von Arbeitsplätzen eine zentrale Rolle ein. Die vorliegende Dissertation legt dar, dass die Relevanz von neu gegründeten Betrieben als Arbeitgeber nicht nur im Hinblick auf die Anzahl der von ihnen geschaffenen Arbeitsplätze beurteilt werden sollte, sondern auch im Lichte der Qualität dieser neuen Jobs. Sollten neue Firmen sich von etablierten Betrieben bezüglich Einstellungsmustern oder Arbeitsbedingungen unterscheiden, könnte dies schwerwiegende Auswirkungen auf die Karriere der dort angestellten Arbeitnehmer haben. Vor diesem Hintergrund liefern die vier Studien dieser Dissertation neue Erkenntnisse zu Einstellungsverhalten, Entlohnung und Beschäftigungsperspektiven in neu gegründeten Betrieben.

Using representative linked employer-employee data for Germany, this paper analyzes short- and long-run differences in labor market performance of workers joining start-ups instead of incumbent firms. Applying entropy balancing and following individuals over ten years, we find huge and long-lasting drawbacks from entering a start-up in terms of wages, yearly income, and (un)employment. These disadvantages hold for all groups of workers and types of start-ups analyzed. Although our analysis of different subsequent career paths highlights important heterogeneities, it does not reveal any strategy through which workers joining start-ups can catch up with the income of similar workers entering incumbent firms.

Using representative linked employer-employee data for Germany, this paper analyzes short- and long-run differences in labor market performance of workers joining startups instead of incumbent firms. Applying entropy balancing and following individuals over ten years, we find huge and long-lasting drawbacks from entering a start-up in terms of wages, yearly income, and (un)employment. These disadvantages hold for all groups of workers and types of start-ups analyzed. Although our analysis of different subsequent career paths highlights important heterogeneities, it does not reveal any strategy through which workers joining start-ups can catch up with the income of similar workers entering incumbent firms.

This article compares the hiring patterns of start-ups and incumbent firms to analyze whether start-ups offer relatively more job opportunities to disadvantaged workers. Using administrative linked employer–employee data for Germany that provide the complete employment biographies of newly hired workers, the authors show that young firms are more likely than incumbents to hire applicants who are older, foreign, or unemployed, or who have unstable employment histories, arrive from outside the labor force, or were affected by a plant closure. Analysis of entry wages shows that penalties for these disadvantaged workers, however, are higher in start-ups than in incumbent firms. Therefore, even if start-ups provide employment opportunities for certain groups of disadvantaged workers, the quality of these jobs in terms of initial remuneration appears to be low.

This paper analyzes whether startups offer job opportunities to workers potentially facing labor market problems. It compares the hiring patterns of startups and incumbents in the period 2003 to 2014 using administrative linked employer-employee data for Germany that allow to take the complete employment biographies of newly hired workers into account. The results indicate that young plants are more likely than incumbents to hire older and foreign applicants as well as workers who have instable employment biographies, come from unemployment or outside the labor force, or were affected by a plant closure. However, an analysis of entry wages reveals that disadvantageous worker characteristics come along with higher wage penalties in startups than in incumbents. Therefore, even if startups provide employment opportunities for certain groups of disadvantaged workers, the quality of these jobs in terms of initial remuneration seems to be low.

Using German survey data, we investigate the relationship between involuntary job loss and regional mobility. Our results show that job loss has a strong positive effect on the propensity to relocate. We also analyse whether displaced workers who relocate to a different region after job loss are better able to catch up with non-displaced workers in terms of labour market performance than those staying in the same region. Our findings do not support this conjecture as we find substantial long-lasting earnings losses for movers and stayers and even slightly but not significantly higher losses for movers.

Using German survey data, we investigate the relationship between involuntary job loss and regional mobility. Our results show that job loss has a strong positive effect on the propensity to relocate. We also analyze whether the high and persistent earnings losses of displaced workers can in part be explained by limited regional mobility. Our findings do not support this conjecture as we find substantial long lasting earnings losses for both movers and stayers. In the short run, movers even face slightly higher losses, but the differences between the two groups of displaced workers are never statistically significant. This challenges whether migration is a beneficial strategy in case of involuntary job loss.