Figure 1
The conceptual flow diagram is organized into four top boxes arranged from left to right: “Age”, “Pay Level”, “Underlying Theoretical Mechanisms of Self-Employment Entry”, and “Employment Decision”. Each column contains elements aligned beneath its respective boxes. Starting from the left side, a rectangular box labeled “Age” is shown, with two lower boxes labeled “Young”. From “Young”, two branches extend. The upper branch connects to a rectangular box labeled “High” under “Pay Level”, and a rightward arrow from “High” leads directly to a rectangular box labeled “Remain in Paid-Employment” under “Employment Decision”. The lower branch from “Young” connects to a rectangular box labeled “Low”, highlighted with a red border. From this “Low” box, a rightward line leads to a dashed oval containing three bullet points: “Low Earning Situation”, “Future Earning Capability”, and “Overconfidence in Abilities”. From this dashed oval, a rightward arrow points to a rectangular box labeled “Enter Self-Employment” highlighted with a red border, with the label “H 1” placed to the right of this box. A second pathway begins again from a lower “Young” box. From this, an upper branch connects to a rectangular box labeled “High”, highlighted with a red border. From this “High” box, a rightward line leads to another dashed oval containing four bullet points: “Reduced Monetary Incentive”, “Labour Market Push”, “Non-Pecuniary Benefits”, and “Accumulated Skills”. From this dashed oval, a rightward arrow points to another rectangular box labeled “Enter Self-Employment” highlighted with a red border, with the label “H 2” placed to the right. A final lower branch from “Young” box connects to a rectangular box labeled “Low”, and a rightward arrow from this “Low” box leads to a rectangular box labeled “Remain in Paid-Employment” under “Employment Decision”.Conceptual framework