abstract: 'Self-employment is one of the two main non-standard work forms

  (different from regular full-time employment) in Quebec and Canada.

  Although some research has documented the differences between the

  own-account self-employed and those who are employers, little is known

  about the diversity of situation among the own-account self-employed,

  the subcategory which underwent tremendous growth between 1976 and 2000,

  with a slight drop since that time. The present research, based on a

  sample of 293 respondents whose main job in 2000 was own-account

  self-employment, analyses such diversity through five dimensions: the

  worker''s characteristics, the type of clientele, the nature of the

  product, the organization of work (including remuneration) and finally

  the level and the type of protection against social and professional

  hazards.

  A multiple correspondence analysis revealed two main axes of opposition

  among the sample. The first axis spreads out between two extreme

  positions: at one end of the continuum stand the self-employed who are

  economically independent with a high number of customers, mostly

  individuals, while at the other end are those with only few customers,

  mostly firms, one of which provides half or more of the worker''s income.

  Generally speaking, the former tend to control their work while the

  latter tend to be controlled by their clients. The second axis opposes

  professionals, whose work requires a university degree, to other

  self-employed. The former tend to combine the advantages of a high level

  of education and experience, participation in the networks and a

  superior income, which allow them to purchase protection plans against

  social risks, especially health and disability insurance plans,

  professional training and individual pension plans. On the opposite end,

  non-professionals tend to have less experience, less participation in

  the networks, and a lower income; in general they do not acquire

  protection plans and rely on themselves and their families to address

  professional hazards and life''s hazards.

  A cluster analysis helped identify six types, five of which were

  statistically differentiated:

  - Non-professional independents who control their work but are lacking

  protection against risks;

  - Small, dependant producers whose customers mainly control the work;

  these self-employed are not especially associated with a specific

  professional profile nor with a specific level of protection;

  - Liberal professionals who mainly control their work but must deal with

  the intervention of outside forces in establishing pay rates and other

  contractual terms. Among the sample, they are the most protected against

  risks but have to pay for those protections;

  - Advisors and consultants who are set apart by controlling the

  contractual modalities more than the average self-employed; they also

  pay for protections but in a lower proportion than liberal

  professionals;

  - Other independents and those who combine self-employment and

  nonstandard work forms (part-time, temporary or contract employment);

  they have a great deal in common with the members of the first group,

  but are more educated;

  - A small group of professionals enjoying collective labour agreements,

  under which their clients share the cost of protection programs against

  certain social and professional risks.

  The results of this research tend to support the hypothesis related to

  the heterogeneity of the own-account self-employment category, beyond

  the traditional dichotomies comparing qualified professionals

  controlling their work to non-professionals with little qualification

  and control. Incidentally, the results explain part of this diversity by

  the blurring of boundaries between the two polar forms of work, wage and

  salary vs. self-employment, as they have been legally defined. Indeed, a

  portion of own-account self employed does not fully control its work

  while another part, smaller, does not bear all the risks linked to work.'
affiliation: 'D''Amours, M (Corresponding Author), Ecole Affaires Publ \& Communautaires,
  Montreal, PQ, Canada.

  Ecole Affaires Publ \& Communautaires, Montreal, PQ, Canada.

  INRS Urbanisat Culture \& Societe, Montreal, PQ, Canada.'
author: D'Amours, M and Crespo, S
author-email: 'mdamours@alcor.concordia.ca

  crespo@inrs-ucs.uquebec.ca'
author_list:
- family: D'Amours
  given: M
- family: Crespo
  given: S
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.7202/010921ar
files: []
issn: 0034-379X
journal: RELATIONS INDUSTRIELLES-INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
language: French
month: SUM
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '20'
pages: 459-489
papis_id: d7fcf3850021f82ee9f341df2677dd4e
ref: Damours2004dimensionsheterogene
times-cited: '11'
title: 'The dimensions of heterogeneity among own-account self-employed: Elements
  for a typology'
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000225275500001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '16'
volume: '59'
web-of-science-categories: Industrial Relations \& Labor
year: '2004'