Self-Employment in Russia: Structural and Dynamic Features

The article continues the study of tax microdata on the self-employed—payers of the professional income tax—for 2019–2024. It is shown that a high degree of heterogeneity in the composition of the self-employed is observed in various structural sections: in combination with other areas of activity, client status, regions, and occupations. At the same time, the degree of heterogeneity does not decrease over time. Cluster analysis did not reveal any large clusters of self-employed individuals, which confirms the conclusion about the heterogeneity of their composition. Based on the longitudinal element contained in the tax microdata, patterns of income retention from self-employment are displayed. The movement of self-employed people between employment categories was studied, demonstrating, that the growth in the number of self-employed people occurs without any damage to “traditional” labor relations, and self-employment reduces the size of the shadow sector of the economy, while remaining a “niche” segment of the labor market.