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Earnings of Immigrants: Does Entrepreneurship Matter?

Author

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  • Nahikari Irastorza

    (Nahikari Irastorza is Marie Curie research fellow at the MIM, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden.)

  • Iñaki Peña

    (Iñaki Peña is Director, Entrepreneurship Department, Basque Institute of Competitiveness, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain.)

Abstract

The economic integration of immigrants has become a challenging topic in the European political agenda. This is especially true for countries that are struggling to survive the economic recession which started in 2008. In this context, entrepreneurship emerges as an alternative to unemployment. While the self-employment propensity of immigrants is well documented, little is known about the performance of these ventures. This article contributes to the literature by comparing and explaining the differential earnings of self-employed versus salaried immigrants in Spain. A binary logistic regression is applied to explore data collected by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project for 2005 and 2006. Our findings show that self-employed immigrants’ income exceeds that of salaried workers. Human capital and location-related environmental variables were found to be the best predictors of both self-employed and salaried immigrants’ earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Nahikari Irastorza & Iñaki Peña, 2014. "Earnings of Immigrants: Does Entrepreneurship Matter?," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 23(1), pages 35-56, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jouent:v:23:y:2014:i:1:p:35-56
    DOI: 10.1177/0971355713513352
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mats Hammarstedt, 2006. "The predicted earnings differential and immigrant self-employment in Sweden," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(6), pages 619-630.
    2. Joachim Wagner & Rolf Sternberg, 2004. "Start-up activities, individual characteristics, and the regional milieu: Lessons for entrepreneurship support policies from German micro data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 38(2), pages 219-240, June.
    3. Mats Hammarstedt, 2001. "Immigrant self-employment in Sweden - its variation and some possible determinants," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 147-161, April.
    4. Mats Hammarstedt, 2004. "Self-Employment Among Immigrants in Sweden -- An Analysis of Intragroup Differences," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 115-126, September.
    5. Stuart, Robert W. & Abetti, Pier A., 1990. "Impact of entrepreneurial and management experience on early performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 151-162, May.
    6. Cooper, Arnold C. & Woo, Carolyn Y. & Dunkelberg, William C., 1989. "Entrepreneurship and the initial size of firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(5), pages 317-332, September.
    7. George J. Borjas, 1986. "The Self-Employment Experience of Immigrants," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 21(4), pages 485-506.
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    Cited by:

    1. Xiahai Wei & Yang Jiao & Glenn Growe, 2019. "Language skills and migrant entrepreneurship: evidence from China," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 981-999, December.
    2. Nafisa Yeasmin, 2016. "The Determinants of Sustainable Entrepreneurship of Immigrants in Lapland: An Analysis of Theoretical Factors," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(1), pages 129-159.
    3. Ingemar Johansson Sevä & Stig Vinberg & Mikael Nordenmark & Mattias Strandh, 2016. "Subjective well-being among the self-employed in Europe: macroeconomy, gender and immigrant status," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 239-253, February.

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