On Immigration and Native Entrepreneurship

Arbeitspapier

We present a novel theory that immigrants facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship by being willing and able to invest in new skills. Immigrants whose human capital is not immediately transferable to the host country face lower opportunity costs of investing in new skills or methods and will be more exible in their human capital investments than observationally equivalent natives. Areas with large numbers of immigrants may therefore lead to more entrepreneurship and innovation, even among natives. We provide empirical evidence from the United States that is consistent with the theory's predictions.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 14188

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Other ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; Entrepreneurship
• Subject: immigration ; innovation ; entrepreneurship ; human capital

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Duleep, Harriet ; Jaeger, David A. ; McHenry, Peter
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/236219
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET