Self-employment structure of young adults in Croatia and other EU members between 2005.-2016.

Sa？etak Based on the Labour Force Survey data for the period 2005-2016, this paper provides a comparative analysis of the changes in self-employment in Croatia and other European Union member states. The specific emphasis is on the youth in the age group 15-29. The results reveal that during that period the share of the self-employed in the active population is declining in Croatia. The larger share of the self-employed is due to necessity, in comparison to those due to opportunity. Self-employment is still focused on agriculture and fisheries, and the youth self-employed mostly declare themselves as farmers. During the 2005-2016 period, there is evidence of polarization in self-employment with respect to education attainment – there is an increasing share of self-employed with low educational attainment and with high educational attainment. Based on the characteristics analyzed in the paper, Croatia resembles other post-transition EU members. However, it is also similar to southern European members, countries where youth were faced with extremely high unemployment rates during the latest economic crisis