Immigrant entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the survey of business owners 2007 & 2012

Sari Pekkala Kerr and William Kerr

Research Policy, 2020, vol. 49, issue 3

Abstract: We study immigrant entrepreneurship in 2007 and 2012 using the Survey of Business Owners. First-generation immigrants create about 25% of new firms in America, but this share exceeds 40% in some states. Conditional on basic regression controls, immigrant-owned firms tend to create fewer jobs than native-owned firms, have comparable pay levels, offer fewer benefits, and engage more in international activities. Prominent tech clusters display quite pronounced shares of immigrant entrepreneurs. Our results suggest that most of the impact of immigrant high-tech entrepreneurship for tech centers happens through the quantity dimension: Silicon Valley and similar tech hubs attract many immigrant founders.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Immigration; Job creation; Employee benefits; Owner demographics; Exports; Outsourcing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J15 J44 J61 L26 M13 O31 O32 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (50)

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Working Paper: Immigrant Entrepreneurship in America: Evidence from the Survey of Business Owners 2007 & 2012 (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:3:s0048733319302367

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2019.103918

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