Immigration Article of the Day: Immigration and Entrepreneurship by Robert W. Fairlie and Magnus Lofstrom

Immigration and Entrepreneurshipby Robert W. Fairlie, University of California, Santa Cruz – Department of Economics, and Magnus Lofstrom, Public Policy Institute of CaliforniaInstitute for the Study of Labor (IZA)IZA Discussion Paper No. 7669

Abstract: Immigrants are widely perceived as being highly entrepreneurial and important for economic growth and innovation. This is reflected in immigration policies and many developed countries have created special visas and entry requirements in an attempt to attract immigrant entrepreneurs. Not surprisingly, a large body of research on immigrant entrepreneurship has developed over the years. In this chapter we provide an overview of the economics literature with respect to some of the most fundamental immigrant entrepreneurship issues as well as the empirical methods and data used. The main themes we address are immigrant entrepreneurs’ contributions to the economy, entrepreneurship differences across groups and group differences in entrepreneurial success.

KJ