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Immigrants and entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Magnus Lofstrom

    (Public Policy Institute of California, USA, and IZA, Germany)

  • Chunbei Wang

    (University of Oklahoma, USA)

Abstract

Immigrants are widely perceived to be highly entrepreneurial, contributing to economic growth and innovation, and self-employment is often viewed as a means of enhancing labor market integration and success among immigrants. Accordingly, many countries have established special visas and entry requirements to attract immigrant entrepreneurs. Research supports some of these stances, but expectations may be too high. There is no strong evidence that self-employment is an effective tool of upward economic mobility among low-skilled immigrants. More broadly prioritizing high-skilled immigrants may prove to be more successful than focusing on entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Magnus Lofstrom & Chunbei Wang, 2019. "Immigrants and entrepreneurship," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-85, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2019:n:85
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Wiers & Didier Chabaud, 2022. "Bibliometric analysis of immigrant entrepreneurship research 2009–2019," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 441-464, December.
    2. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2016. "Immigrant Entrepreneurship," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 187-249, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Hausmann, Ricardo & Nedelkoska, Ljubica, 2018. "Welcome home in a crisis: Effects of return migration on the non-migrants' wages and employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 101-132.
    4. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Improving Entrepreneurs’ Digital Skills and Firms’ Digital Competencies through Business Apps Training: A Study of Small Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.
    5. Hausmann, Ricardo & Nedelkoska, Ljubica, 2017. "Welcome Home in a Crisis: Effects of Return Migration on the Non-Migrants’ Wages and Employment," Working Paper Series rwp17-015, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    6. Drydakis, Nick, 2024. "Reducing the Gender Digital Divide Amongst Immigrant Entrepreneurs," IZA Discussion Papers 17275, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Mengdie Ruan & Angathevar Baskaran & Shanshan Zhou, 2022. "Mainland Chinese Immigrant-owned SMEs in Malaysia: Case Studies," Millennial Asia, , vol. 13(1), pages 5-34, April.
    8. Robert Fairlie, 2020. "The impact of COVID‐19 on small business owners: Evidence from the first three months after widespread social‐distancing restrictions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 727-740, October.
    9. Steven A. Brieger & Michael M. Gielnik, 2021. "Understanding the gender gap in immigrant entrepreneurship: a multi-country study of immigrants’ embeddedness in economic, social, and institutional contexts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1007-1031, February.
    10. Dheer, Ratan J.S. & Lenartowicz, Tomasz, 2020. "Effect of generational status on immigrants’ intentions to start new ventures: The role of cognitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    11. Ana Cuadros & Juan Carlos Cuestas & Joan Martín-Montaner, 2021. "Self-employment convergence in Europe: The role of migration," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, April.
    12. Monica Roman & Dorel Mihai Paraschiv, 2019. "The Young Entrepreneurs of Europe and the Role of International Mobility," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 21(S13), pages 763-763, November.
    13. Lee, Jun Yeong & Winters, John V., 2021. "Too Cold to Venture There? January Temperature and Immigrant Self-Employment across the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 14941, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Magnus Klofsten & Ellen MacEachen & Christian Ståhl, 2021. "New and small firms in a modern working life: how do we make entrepreneurship healthy?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 755-763, August.
    15. Emilie Sophie Le Caous & Fenghueih Huarng, 2021. "Economic Complexity and Human Development: Moderated by Logistics and International Migration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Öner, Özge & Klaesson, Johan, 2018. "Ethnic Enclaves and Labor Market Outcomes – What Matters Most: Neighborhood, City or Region?," Working Paper Series 1251, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    17. Johan Klaesson & Özge Öner, 2021. "Ethnic enclaves and segregation—self-employment and employment patterns among forced migrants," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 985-1006, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; self-employment; innovation; immigrants; immigration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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