It is well known that the self-employed are over-represented at the bottom as well as the top of the income distribution. This paper shifts the focus from the income situation of the self-employed to the distributive effects of a change in self-employment rates. With representative German data and unconditional quantile regression analysis we show that an increase in the proportion of self-employed individuals in the labor force increases income polarization by tearing down floors at the bottom and allowing higher income potentials at the very top of the hourly income distribution. Recentered influence function regression of inequality measures corroborate that self-employment is a source of income inequality in the labor market.

中文翻译：

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自营职业是收入不平等的根源

众所周知，个体经营者在收入分配的底部和顶部都占过多。本文将重点从自雇者的收入状况转移到自雇率变化的分配效应上。通过具有代表性的德国数据和无条件的分位数回归分析，我们表明，个体经营者在劳动力中的比例的增加通过撕裂底部的底层并允许在每小时收入分配的最顶部允许更高的收入潜力来加剧收入两极分化。不平等措施的最新影响函数回归证实，自雇是劳动力市场收入不平等的根源。