Self-employment as a route in and out of Britain's South East

Abstract

Based on Fielding’s Escalator Region Model (ERM) on South East England this paper examines whether the South East (SE) exports its ‘entrepreneurial culture’ and whether it gains entrepreneurial resources through internal migration using the BHPS 1991-2008. Results show that, consistent with the ERM, the region loses entrepreneurs. However, importantly, out-migrants from the SE are more likely to subsequently exit self-employment relative to other UK internal migrants. Despite its economic functions, the SE is no more likely to attract (would-be) self-employed entrepreneurs than other regions. This calls into question to what extent the SE acts as ‘escalator’ in terms of self-employment.