Refugees and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Ukrainians in Poland

Pierre-Louis Vézina, Cevat Giray Aksoy and Piotr Lewandowski
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Pierre-Louis Vézina

No 07/2025, IBS Working Papers from Instytut Badan Strukturalnych

Abstract: We examine business creation by Ukrainian refugees in Poland following the Russian invasion. We find that Ukrainians started 38,833 firms in 2022–23, accounting for 7% of all registrations. Our survey shows that 58% of post-invasion Ukrainian founders are refugees, and cross-county regressions show that a 10% increase in adult male Ukrainian refugees is associated with a 2.7% increase in Ukrainian firm registrations. We then show that new Ukrainian businesses stimulate Polish entrepreneurship. Using a shift-share strategy based on refugee shocks and Ukrainians’ comparative advantage, we find that a 10% increase in Ukrainian registrations led to 2.3% more Polish firms.

Keywords: migration; firms; entrepreneurship; multiplier (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 L26 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2025-12
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp072025

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