Self-Employment Differentials among Foreign-Born STEM and Non-STEM Workers

Zhengyu Cai and John Winters

No 1706, Economics Working Paper Series from Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business

Abstract: This paper uses the American Community Survey to examine the previously overlooked fact that foreign STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates have much lower self-employment rates than their non-STEM counterparts, with an unconditional difference of 3.3 percentage points. We find empirical support for differing earnings opportunities as a partial explanation for this self-employment gap. High wages in STEM paid-employment combined with reduced earnings in self-employment make self-employment less desirable for STEM graduates. High self-employment rates among other foreign-born workers partially reflect weak paid-employment opportunities. Public policy should encourage efficient use of worker skills rather than low-value business venture creation.

Keywords: self-employment; immigration; foreign-born; college major; STEM; earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J15 J31 L26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent, nep-lab and nep-mig
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Self-employment differentials among foreign-born STEM and non-STEM workers (2017)
Working Paper: Self-Employment Differentials among Foreign-Born STEM and Non-STEM Workers (2017)
Working Paper: Self-Employment Differentials among Foreign-Born STEM and Non-STEM Workers (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:okl:wpaper:1706

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