O
ne source of business ownership is self-employment. Self-employed people generally find their own
work rather than being provided with work by an employer, and they earn a significant portion of their
income from a trade or business that they operate. A self-employed person is also an entrepreneur
because he or she accepts risk in return for a reward from work. As such, the self-employment population
in the Coastal Bend reflects the extent of entrepreneurship in the region. Their microenterprises form
the backbone of the local economy. Today, more than 18,000 individuals in the Coastal Bend consider
themselves self-employed. As for the U.S. as a whole, self-employed workers make up 7 percent of the
regional labor force.
Self-employment can be considered as a low-income alternative to
unemployment or wage work. People are more likely to be selfemployed if their wage employment opportunities become more
limited. Nationally, high unemployment across the U.S. since the
last recession has led workers to self-select into self-employment.
This phenomenon, however, is not happening in South Texas, which
has experienced strong employment growth and rapidly declining
unemployment rates since 2010.
For most Coastal Bend counties, the relative role of selfemployment, as measured by the share of self-employed within
the local labor force, has either declined or shown negligible gains
since 2001. In striking contrast to the national trend, the regional
self-employment patterns are attributable to the relatively strong
regional labor markets, particularly due to the shale oil boom in
recent years.
ENEURSHIP IN THE
Source: EMSI Analyst Online
Self-Employment Trends
ENTREPR
Self-Employment Trends since 2001
During the first half of the 2000s, the self-employment population grew steadily across the Coastal Bend. After reaching
a peak in 2007 with about 20,600 persons, the upward trend was reversed. Development in the Corpus Christi metro area,
which makes up 73 percent of the regional self-employed population, was the key driver behind this cyclical trend.
Patterns across Industries
Different industries in the Coastal Bend have
The role of self-employment varies considerably by industry. The
construction industry has the most self-employed workers. The
nearly 4,500 self-employed construction workers in the Coastal
Bend account for about one quarter (24%) of the region’s total
number of self-employed. Other sectors with large self-employment
are business services, such as accounting and consulting, and
administrative support services. Construction is also the largest
sector of self-employment for most counties within the region,
except Refugio, where the majority of self-employed is founded in
business services.
experienced vastly different growth patterns
over time in their numbers of self-employed.
Self-Employment by Industry, 2014
BEND
Different industries in the Coastal Bend have experienced
vastly different growth patterns over time in their numbers of
self-employed. Si