Teemu Kautonen, Simon Down, Friederike Welter, Pekka Vainio, Jenni Palmroos, Kai Althoff and Susanne Kolb
There is growing political interest in new forms of precarious self‐employment located in a “grey area” between employment and self‐employment. A wide range of concepts has been…
Abstract
Purpose
There is growing political interest in new forms of precarious self‐employment located in a “grey area” between employment and self‐employment. A wide range of concepts has been used to debate this issue, and this paper aims to clarify these debates through the concept of involuntary self‐employment.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the empirical, conceptual and legal‐policy approaches to involuntary self‐employment via three country case studies in Finland, Germany and the UK. A range of relevant domestic academic literature, articles in the media, selected key expert interviews, and policy and legal documents are employed.
Findings
Conceptual clarity regarding involuntary self‐employment is achieved through a discussion of two aspects of the phenomenon: the characteristics of involuntariness from a motives‐based perspective, and the legal/economic perspectives and policy issues. The motives‐based analysis argues that involuntariness as such does not seem to have severe implications on the individuals' well being, given that the individual earns a satisfactory livelihood from her or his business activities. The discussion of the characteristics of and regulation related to working arrangements in the “grey area” between employment and self‐employment, where the self‐employed individual is strongly dependent on the principal, shows that it is very difficult to regulate quasi self‐employment without harming “voluntary” forms of enterprise and inter‐firm cooperation at the same time.
Originality/value
The key contribution of the paper is to facilitate a foundation for subsequent empirical research and policy development.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this study was to describe the development of Finnish civil defence shelter construction from the 1920s to the present. The purpose of the article is primarily to share…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to describe the development of Finnish civil defence shelter construction from the 1920s to the present. The purpose of the article is primarily to share information about the birth and development history of the Finnish civil defence system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is a literary study, including the stages of legislative preparation. The research data is analysed using path dependency theory. The study uses path dependency theory to analyse the development of civil defence shelter construction.
Findings
The paper provides empirical picture about how the development of construction of civil defence shelters was started by voluntary basis and then development was stipulated by legislation. Path dependency can be used to explain how previous investments in infrastructure or technology have affected decision-making. The technical system of shelters was preserved in terms of conventional pressure protection and developed through changes in the socio-economic system as well as by the threat of nuclear war.
Research limitations/implications
The study describes solely development of Finnish civil defence shelter concept. There is a need for a separate international comparative study of developments in different countries and international strategies for civil defence.
Practical implications
The paper reviews the step-by-step development of Finnish civil defence shelters over time, including legislation and technical standards, highlighting the importance of civil defence shelters.
Originality/value
Several Finnish-language studies have been published on the historical development of the construction of Finnish civil defence shelters, but the internationally published unified historical review has not previously been published. This study provides Finnish model and example for the development of civil defence.