As a result, rates of self-employment tend to be very high in many countries, particularly in poorer parts of the world where multiple family members assist each other in agricultural work on a family-owned farm. In countries that are less well off, self-employment can be seen as a survival strategy to make ends meet while in more developed economies, it can be a mark of creativity and entrepreneurship.
Half of workers in Colombia are self-employed according to the most recent data released by the OECD (PDF) with labor informality, income inequality and non-regular contracts common across the South American nation.
In Europe, southern countries such as Greece have the highest self-employment rates while nations in the north, particularly across Scandinavia, tend to have the lowest. In Japan. 10.6 percent of the country’s workforce are their own bosses while the U.S. self-employment rate is 6.4 percent.