IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v48y2017i4d10.1007_s11187-016-9804-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-employment amongst migrant groups: new evidence from England and Wales

Author

Listed:
  • Ken Clark

    (University of Manchester
    IZA)

  • Stephen Drinkwater

    (IZA
    University of Roehampton
    CReAM, UCL)

  • Catherine Robinson

    (University of Kent)

Abstract

Self-employment constitutes a vital part of the economy since entrepreneurs can provide employment not only for themselves but also for others. The link between self-employment and immigration is, however, complex, especially given the changing nature of self-employment. We investigate the evolving relationship between self-employment and immigration using recently released microdata from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. Our findings indicate large variations, with high self-employment rates observed for some groups with a long established history of migration to the UK (especially men born in Pakistan) and also for some groups who have arrived more recently (such as from the EU’s new member states). We further explore the differences, analyse variations by gender and identify key determining factors. In addition to certain socio-economic characteristics, it is found that migration-related influences, such as English language proficiency and period of arrival in the UK, play an important role for some groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Ken Clark & Stephen Drinkwater & Catherine Robinson, 2017. "Self-employment amongst migrant groups: new evidence from England and Wales," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1047-1069, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:48:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9804-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-016-9804-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-016-9804-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-016-9804-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miranda, Alfonso & Zhu, Yu, 2013. "English deficiency and the native–immigrant wage gap," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 38-41.
    2. Amelie Constant & Klaus Zimmermann, 2006. "The Making of Entrepreneurs in Germany: Are Native Men and Immigrants Alike?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 279-300, April.
    3. Lina Andersson & Mats Hammarstedt, 2010. "Intergenerational transmissions in immigrant self-employment: Evidence from three generations," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 261-276, April.
    4. Ken Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 2008. "The labour-market performance of recent migrants," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(3), pages 496-517, Autumn.
    5. Magnus Lofstrom, 2002. "Labor market assimilation and the self-employment decision of immigrant entrepreneurs," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 83-114.
    6. Böheim, René & Mühlberger, Ulrike, 2009. "Dependent self-employment: workers between employment and self-employment in the UK," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 42(2), pages 182-195.
    7. Kenneth Clark & Stephen Drinkwater & Derek Leslie, 1998. "Ethnicity and self-employment earnings in Britain 1973-95," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(10), pages 631-634.
    8. Giuliano Guerra & Roberto Patuelli, 2014. "The influence of role models on immigrant self-employment: a spatial analysis for Switzerland," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(1/2), pages 187-215, May.
    9. Disney, Richard & Gathergood, John, 2009. "Housing wealth, liquidity constraints and self-employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 79-88, January.
    10. Robert W. Fairlie & Javier Miranda, 2017. "Taking the Leap: The Determinants of Entrepreneurs Hiring Their First Employee," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 3-34, February.
    11. Howard J. Wall & Yannis Georgellis, 2000. "What makes a region entrepreneurial? Evidence from Britain," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 34(3), pages 385-403.
    12. Robert W. Fairlie & Bruce D. Meyer, 1996. "Ethnic and Racial Self-Employment Differences and Possible Explanations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(4), pages 757-793.
    13. George J. Borjas, 2021. "Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of Immigrants," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foundational Essays in Immigration Economics, chapter 2, pages 3-29, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Andrew Henley, 2017. "The post-crisis growth in the self-employed: volunteers or reluctant recruits?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1312-1323, September.
    15. Ken Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 2010. "Patterns of ethnic self-employment in time and space: evidence from British Census microdata," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 323-338, April.
    16. David G. Blanchflower & Phillip B. Levine & David J. Zimmerman, 2003. "Discrimination in the Small-Business Credit Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 930-943, November.
    17. Nunziata, Luca & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2011. "The Implications of Cultural Background on Labour Market Choices: The Case of Religion and Entrepreneurship," IZA Discussion Papers 6114, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. George J. Borjas, 1986. "The Self-Employment Experience of Immigrants," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(4), pages 485-506.
    19. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    20. Kenneth Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 1998. "Ethnicity and Self‐Employment in Britain," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(3), pages 383-407, August.
    21. Anh T. Le, 1999. "Empirical Studies of Self‐Employment," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 381-416, September.
    22. Clark, Kenneth & Drinkwater, Stephen, 2000. "Pushed out or pulled in? Self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(5), pages 603-628, September.
    23. Jonathan Levie, 2007. "Immigration, In-Migration, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 143-169, March.
    24. repec:bla:obuest:v:60:y:1998:i:3:p:383-407:a is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Andrew M. Yuengert, 1995. "Testing Hypotheses of Immigrant Self-Employment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(1), pages 194-204.
    26. Ken Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 2009. "Immigrant self‐employment adjustment," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(1/2), pages 163-175, March.
    27. Ken Clark & Stephen Drinkwater, 2009. "Immigrant self-employment adjustment: Ethnic groups in the UK," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 30(1/2), pages 163-175, May.
    28. Lina Aldén & Mats Hammarstedt, 2016. "Discrimination in the Credit Market? Access to Financial Capital among Self-employed Immigrants," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 3-31, February.
    29. Felix Behling & Mark Harvey, 2015. "The evolution of false self-employment in the British construction industry: a neo-Polanyian account of labour market formation," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(6), pages 969-988, December.
    30. Borooah, Vani K & Hart, Mark, 1999. "Factors Affecting Self-Employment among Indian and Black Caribbean Men in Britain," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 111-129, September.
    31. Simonetta Longhi & Cheti Nicoletti & Lucinda Platt, 2013. "Explained and unexplained wage gaps across the main ethno-religious groups in Great Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 471-493, April.
    32. Black, Jane & de Meza, David & Jeffreys, David, 1996. "House Price, the Supply of Collateral and the Enterprise Economy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(434), pages 60-75, January.
    33. Andrew Henley, 2004. "Self-Employment Status: The Role of State Dependence and Initial Circumstances," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 67-82, February.
    34. Chiswick, Barry R., 2008. "The Economics of Language: An Introduction and Overview," IZA Discussion Papers 3568, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    35. Wellington, Alison J., 2006. "Self-employment: the new solution for balancing family and career?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 357-386, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mark Granberg & Niklas Ottosson & Ali Ahmed, 2020. "Do ethnicity and sex of employers affect applicants’ job interest? An experimental exploration," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 54(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Matthias Jan Mrożewski & Daphne Hering, 2023. "What makes migrants more entrepreneurial? Investigating the role of cultural distance and human capital," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 151-176, March.
    3. Joan Martín-Montaner & Guadalupe Serrano-Domingo & Francisco Requena-Silvente, 2018. "Networks and self-employed migrants," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 735-755, October.
    4. Magdalena Ulceluse & Martin Kahanec, 2023. "Eastward enlargements of the European Union, transitional arrangements and self-employment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 719-742, April.
    5. Maribel Guerrero & Vesna Mandakovic & Mauricio Apablaza & Veronica Arriagada, 2021. "Are migrants in/from emerging economies more entrepreneurial than natives?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 527-548, June.
    6. Mats Hammarstedt & Chizheng Miao, 2020. "Self-employed immigrants and their employees: evidence from Swedish employer-employee data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 35-68, March.
    7. Johan Karlsson, 2021. "Firm size and growth barriers: a data-driven approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1319-1338, October.
    8. Sinkovics, Noemi & Reuber, A. Rebecca, 2021. "Beyond disciplinary silos: A systematic analysis of the migrant entrepreneurship literature," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(4).
    9. Lina Aldén & Spencer Bastani & Mats Hammarstedt & Chizheng Miao, 2022. "Immigrant-native differences in long-term self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1661-1697, March.
    10. Mingzhi Hu & Zhongfeng Su & Wenping Ye, 2023. "The future-time reference of home-country language and immigrant self-employment: an imprinting perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 521-535, February.
    11. Elert, Niklas & Lundin, Erik, 2020. "Gender and Climate Action," Working Paper Series 1332, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 18 Feb 2022.
    12. Ahmed, Ali & Hammarstedt, Mats, 2018. "Customer Discrimination in the Fast Food Market? Experimental Evidence from a Swedish University Campus," Working Paper Series 1232, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    13. Monica Fisher & Paul A. Lewin, 2018. "Push and pull factors and Hispanic self-employment in the USA," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1055-1070, December.
    14. Aldén, Lina & Bastani, Spencer & Hammarstedt, Mats & Miao, Chizheng, 2020. "Ethnic Differences in Long-Term Self-Employment," Working Paper Series 1361, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    15. Dabić, Marina & Vlačić, Bozidar & Paul, Justin & Dana, Leo-Paul & Sahasranamam, Sreevas & Glinka, Beata, 2020. "Immigrant entrepreneurship: A review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 25-38.
    16. Pan, Mengyang & Hill, James & Blount, Ian & Rungtusanatham, Manus, 2022. "Relationship building and minority business growth: Does participating in activities sponsored by institutional intermediaries help?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 830-843.
    17. Zovanga L. Kone & Isabel Ruiz & Carlos Vargas-Silva, 2021. "Self-employment and reason for migration: are those who migrate for asylum different from other migrants?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 947-962, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clark, Ken & Drinkwater, Stephen & Robinson, Catherine, 2015. "Self?Employment amongst Migrant Groups in England and Wales: New Evidence from Census Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 9539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    3. Emma Neuman, 2021. "Performance and job creation among self-employed immigrants and natives in Sweden," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 403-425, January.
    4. Mats Hammarstedt & Chizheng Miao, 2020. "Self-employed immigrants and their employees: evidence from Swedish employer-employee data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 35-68, March.
    5. Robert W. Fairlie & Alicia M. Robb, 2008. "Race and Entrepreneurial Success: Black-, Asian-, and White-Owned Businesses in the United States," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026206281x, April.
    6. Aldén, Lina & Bastani, Spencer & Hammarstedt, Mats & Miao, Chizheng, 2020. "Ethnic Differences in Long-Term Self-Employment," Working Paper Series 1361, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    7. Elert, Niklas & Lundin, Erik, 2020. "Gender and Climate Action," Working Paper Series 1332, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 18 Feb 2022.
    8. Ahmed, Ali & Hammarstedt, Mats, 2018. "Customer Discrimination in the Fast Food Market? Experimental Evidence from a Swedish University Campus," Working Paper Series 1232, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    9. Amelie Constant & Klaus Zimmermann, 2006. "The Making of Entrepreneurs in Germany: Are Native Men and Immigrants Alike?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 279-300, April.
    10. Lina Aldén & Spencer Bastani & Mats Hammarstedt & Chizheng Miao, 2022. "Immigrant-native differences in long-term self-employment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1661-1697, March.
    11. Constant, Amelie F. & Shachmurove, Yochanan & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2003. "What Makes an Entrepreneur and Does It Pay? Native Men, Turks, and Other Migrants in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 940, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Aldén, Lina & Hammarstedt, Mats & Miao, Chizheng, 2020. "Financial Capital and Immigrant Self-Employment: Evidence from a Swedish Reform," Working Paper Series 1359, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    13. Hamid Beladi & Saibal Kar, 2015. "Skilled and Unskilled Immigrants and Entrepreneurship in a Developed Country," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 666-682, August.
    14. A. Arrighetti & G. Foresti & S. Fumagalli & A. Lasagni, 2018. "Are Migrant Firms Actually Different From Native Firms?," Economics Department Working Papers 2018-EP05, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    15. Hammarstedt, Mats & Skedinger, Per, 2024. "Immigrant Self-employment in Turbulent Times: A Decade with Refugee Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic," Working Paper Series 1497, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Amelie Constant & Yochanan Shachmurove, 2005. "The comparison of incomes of self-employed and salaried workers among German Nationals and immigrants," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-030, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    18. Lina Andersson & Mats Hammarstedt & Shakir Hussain & Ghazi Shukur, 2013. "Ethnic origin, local labour markets and self-employment in Sweden: a multilevel approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(3), pages 885-910, June.
    19. Robert W. Fairlie, 2013. "Minority and immigrant entrepreneurs: access to financial capital," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 8, pages 153-175, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Marcus H. Böhme & Sarah Kups, 2017. "The economic effects of labour immigration in developing countries: A literature review," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 335, OECD Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:48:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9804-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.