Young and flexible: labour contracts in young and incumbent firms
by Jochen Späth
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (IJESB), Vol. 29, No. 1, 2016

Abstract: This paper investigates if young firms differ from incumbents regarding their use of non-standard employment - part-time employment, fixed-term contracts, agency-based work and freelancers - and flexible working time arrangements - overtime hours and trust-based working time. Both non-standard work forms and flexible working time arrangements are associated with various flexibility-enhancing features and constitute a major resource for personnel planning, firm strategy and success. Based on the IAB Establishment Panel, a representative survey of employers in Germany, we find that young firms use most non-standard work forms and flexible working time arrangements more frequently than their incumbent counterparts. We derive that these measures are particularly suited for the challenges of firm start-ups, and that their managers may profit from taking them into account. Moreover, our analyses suggest that young firms may contribute to the rise of non-standard employment and flexible working time arrangements that can be observed in Germany and other industrialised countries.

Online publication date: Sun, 31-Jul-2016

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