Cultural background,human capital and self-employment rates among immigrants in Norway

The level of self-employment varies significantly among immigrants from different countries of origin. The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between national culture, human capital in the form of educational attainment in the country of origin and self-employment rates among first-generation immigrants in Norway. Empirical secondary data on self-employment among immigrants from 53 countries residing in Norway in 2004 was used. Five different hypotheses were developed and tested using hierarchical regression analysis. The findings suggest that immigrants from countries with low power distance are more likely to become self-employed. However, other dimensions of cultural attributes, such as the home-country's uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and individualism/collectivism were not significantly associated with immigrants’ self-employment rate. Finally, and most notably, the average educational attainment in the country of origin was found to be significantly positively associated with self-employment among immigrants. The study concludes with practical implications and suggestions for future research.     

Self-employment of immigrants and natives in Sweden – a multilevel analysis

Recent research suggests that self-employment among immigrants is due to a combination of multiple situational, cultural and institutional factors, all acting together. Using multilevel regression and unique data on the entire population of Sweden for the year 2007, this study attempts to quantify the relative importance for the self-employed of embeddedness in ethnic contexts (country of birth) and regional business and public regulatory frameworks (labour market areas). This information indicates whether the layers under consideration are valid constructs of the surroundings that influence individual self-employment. The results show that 10% (women) and 8% (men) of the total variation in individual differences in self-employment can be attributed to the country of birth. When labour market areas are included in the analyses, the share of the total variation increases to 14% for women and 12% for men. The results show that the ethnic context and the economic environment play a minor role in understanding individual differences in self-employment levels. The results can have important implications when planning interventions or other actions focusing on self-employment as public measures to promote self-employment often are based on geographic areas and ethnic contexts.     

Entrepreneurship and survival dynamics of immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants

Many studies have explored the determinants of entering into entrepreneurship and the differences in self-employment rates across racial and ethnic groups. However, very little is known about the survival in entrepreneurship of immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants.We adopt a modeling framework based on duration analysis, which takes into account both the fact that the stock of entrepreneurs initially observed represents a selected sample and the inability of observing in the data the exit time for some spells. Unlike previous studies, we find a lower survival probability in entrepreneurship for Mexican and other Hispanic immigrants, which does not carry on to their U.S.-born descendants. We also find that these two immigrant groups tend to enter entrepreneurship from unemployment or inactivity and they are more likely to exit towards employment in the wage sector, suggesting that entrepreneurship represents for them an intermediate step from non-employment to paid employment.     

Ethnic group size,linguistic isolation,and immigrant entrepreneurship in the USA

Using a sample of immigrant men in US census data from the early and late 1900s and available in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), this study explores: (1) whether immigrant entrepreneurship is positively affected by ethnic group size and linguistic isolation; (2) how sensitive these relationships are to English-language proficiency; and (3) if these relationships have remained stable over time. The empirical results indicate that the size of the local ethnic population does not enhance immigrant self-employment for either English-proficient or limited-English-proficient (LEP) men in the USA. In addition, while linguistic isolation in the local labour pool seems to promote entrepreneurship among English-fluent immigrants in certain cases, it appears to hinder business formation among the LEP. Finally, comparing the results across time-periods is consistent with the premise that rising xenophobia pushes a disproportionate share of the LEP into self-employment.     

Complements or substitutes? Task specialization by gender and nativity in Spain

Learning about the impact of immigration on the labor market outcomes of natives is a topic of major concern for immigrant-receiving countries. Using data from Spain, where the immigrant population has risen from 4% to 13% within a decade, we find that immigration appears to have affected the task specialization of natives without affecting their employment levels. However, the impact of immigration on the relative task supply of natives is twice as great in Spain as in the United States. The magnitude of the immigration impact in a country with a large share of immigrants originating from Spanish-speaking countries suggests that host country language proficiency is not the sole factor driving the observed impact. Additionally, the analysis reveals significant gender differences in the impact of immigration on the relative task supply of natives, possibly resting on the occupational concentration of immigrants and native occupational segregation patterns by gender, among other factors.     

Homeownership in the immigrant population

This paper analyzes the determinants of homeownership in immigrant households over the 1980–2000 period. The study finds that immigrants have lower homeownership rates than natives and that the homeownership gap widened significantly during that period. The differential location decisions of immigrant and native households, as well as the changing national origin mix of the immigrant population, helps explain much of the homeownership gap. The evidence also indicates that the growth of ethnic enclaves in major American cities could become an important factor in increasing immigrant demand for owner-occupied housing in many metropolitan areas.     

Pushed out or pulled in? Self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales

High rates of self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales are investigated using a framework in which the self-employment decision is influenced by ethnic-specific attributes as well as sectoral earnings differentials. As expected, differences in an individual's predicted earnings in paid and self-employment are strongly correlated with self-employment decisions. Individuals with low English fluency, and recent immigrants, are less likely than other members of ethnic minorities to be self-employed. Perhaps surprisingly, this is also true of individuals living in “enclaves” — areas with a high percentage of their own ethnic group. The relatively deprived nature of such areas of England and Wales may explain this.     

Policies for people on the move: the future of migration

The labor shortages that attracted major inflows of immigrant workers to several European Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the 1950s and 1960s have given way in the 1980s to persistent labor surpluses and high rates of unemployment. However, differences in economic conditions between the more and less developed regions of the world will continue to attract migrants from one country to another. With strict controls now imposed on the numbers entering host countries legally, many OECD countries are facing a growing illegal immigration problem. For the industrialized countries, the main challenge today is to meet the needs and demands of their existing stock of immigrant labor rather than to absorb new inflows. A 2nd or 3rd generation of young foreigners have emerged who often have only a rudimentary knowledge of their parents' native country and language. Immigrants usually fill the vacancies in industry and the service sector left by the domestic labor force which has gravitated into more highly skilled, better paid work, but with the introduction of automation and new technology, the demand for unskilled labor is diminishing. Although some host countries in Europe have tried to induce immigrants to return home, one should not expect any dramatic movement in that direction so long as there remains a major economic imbalance between sending and receiving countries. In the absence of this solution, countries with large pools of unemployed, low-skilled immigrant labor need to facilitate their passage into higher level jobs. It is necessary to establish the social and political rights of newcomers and to combat discrimination; positive policies (such as those in Australia, Canada, and the US) to promote the involvement and participation of immgrants in community and political life are needed as well.     

Immigrant wage profiles within and between establishments

Life cycle wages of immigrants from developing countries fall short of catching up with wages of natives. Using linked employer–employee data, we show that 40% of the native–immigrant wage gap is explained by differential sorting across establishments. We find that returns to experience and seniority are similar for immigrant and native workers, but that differences in job mobility and intermittent spells of unemployment are major sources of disparity in lifetime wage growth. The inferior wage growth of immigrants primarily results from failure to advance to higher paying establishments over time. These empirical patterns are consistent with signaling disadvantages of immigrant job seekers, but not with the explanation that low wage growth follows from inferior information about employers and job opportunities.     

An examination of cross-country differences in the gender gap in labor force participation rates

Using evidence on variation in the gender gap in labor force participation rates (LFPR) across home country groups in the United States, this paper analyzes cross-country differences in these gaps. The empirical evidence reveals that for first generation immigrants, over half of the overall variation in the gender gap in LFPR is attributable to home country LFPR. This suggests that there exists a permanent, portable factor, i.e., culture, that is not captured by observed human capital measures, that affects outcomes. The smaller role of home country LFPR for second-and-higher generation immigrants, provides evidence of cultural assimilation as well.     

Immigration and occupational status: A study of Bangladeshi and Turkish fathers and sons in the London labour market

This paper examines the labour market experience of 300 fathers and 300 of their sons in the Bangladeshi and Turkish immigrant communities in various London boroughs in 1988. Probit estimates are made in relation to employment and unemployment, self-employment and employment, and upward mobility or lack of it. Human capital regressions are also run for each of the four groups and for the combined sample. The evidence is consistent with distinctive labour market experience among the various groups.     

Women of courage: Leadership experiences of female Nigerian immigrants in Texas

A phenomenological hermeneutical research design served to explore the immigration and leadership experiences of 22 female Nigerian immigrants in Texas through analysis and interpretation of narrative data from one‐on‐one interviews and focus group interviews. The findings suggest that the process of adapting to American society and the work environment is not easy for female Nigerian immigrants. They must assimilate into American work culture and work harder to access leadership opportunities, despite their belief that equal skills should mean equal opportunity. Leadership experiences in America and Nigeria differ. Nigerian women's accents may generate negative reactions from native‐born workers, and immigrant leaders may experience differential treatment. Adjustment to the host country and leadership success for Nigerian immigrant women in the United States depends on strong family support and networking.     

Age at immigration and school performance: A siblings analysis using swedish register data

This article analyzes the role of age at immigration for the school performance gap between native and immigrant pupils in Sweden. The analysis exploits within-family variation in a large set of register data on immigrant siblings (and native children) graduating from compulsory school (normally at age 16) between 1988 and 2003. The critical age at arrival is about nine, above which there is a strong negative impact on performance. The slopes of these age-at-immigration performance profiles are similar for boys and girls as well as for children from different family backgrounds, but they vary widely by region of origin. Moreover, the estimated profiles are flatter for Mathematics than for a range of subjects taken together. This demonstrates the importance of Sweden-specific skills. A comparison of sibling-difference and cross-sectional estimates reveals that they are strikingly similar.     

Does employment protection help immigrants? Evidence from European labor markets

High levels of employment protection reduce hiring and firing and have a theoretically ambiguous effect on the employment level. Immigrants, being new to the labor market, may be less aware of employment protection regulations and less likely to claim their rights, which may create a gap between the costs for employers of hiring a native relative to hiring an immigrant. This paper tests that hypothesis drawing on evidence for the EU and on two natural experiments for Spain and Italy. The results suggest that strict employment protection legislation (EPL) gives immigrants a comparative advantage relative to natives. Stricter EPL is found to reduce employment and reduce hiring and firing rates for natives. By contrast, stricter EPL has a much smaller effect on immigrants.     

Self-employment: a study of seventeen OECD countries

This article examines some institutional-political explanations for the revival of self-employment in seventeen OECD countries since the 1970s. The empirical analysis suggests that cross-country differences in the self-employment rate are partly explained by the generosity of unemployment insurance schemes, left party strength, the size of the state sector, as well as general economic conditions.     

Taxes,economic conditions and recent trends in male self-employment: a Canada–US comparison

North American workers have increasingly turned to self-employment since the 1970s. Using microdata for the period 1983–1994 from Canada and the United States, I assess the importance of macroeconomic conditions and the tax environment in explaining the trends in male self-employment in these two countries. My findings suggest that higher income tax and unemployment rates are associated with an increase in the rates of self-employment among North American men. Changes in the tax environment account for a considerable amount of the secular trends in male self-employment over this period, while changing economic conditions played a smaller role in determining these trends.     

Give me sanctuary! The impact of personal freedom afforded by sanctuary cities on the 2010 undocumented immigrant settlement pattern within the U.S., 2SLS estimates

This study has endeavored to identify key factors that influenced the settlement pattern of undocumented immigrants among the 50 U.S. states as of the year 2010. The principal focus of the study is the potential impact of Sanctuary cities on the settlement pattern of undocumented immigrants, although both economic and environmental (weather) conditions are included in the analysis as well. The model is estimated by 2SLS both in linear form and semi-log form. Both estimation results imply that the state-level settlement pattern of undocumented immigrants was an increasing function of per capita personal income while being a decreasing function of the cost of living, colder climate, and greater humidity. More relevantly, the state-level settlement pattern of these immigrants was found to be an increasing function of the number of Sanctuary cities in each state. Among other things, then, the results in this study imply that the well-being of the undocumented immigrant population residing in the U.S. was positively affected by a greater number of Sanctuary cities and the accompanying personal freedom afforded by non-reporting of suspected undocumented immigrants to federal authorities.     

Creating opportunities. Policies aimed at increasing openings for immigrant entrepreneurs in the Netherlands

Since the 1980s, subsequent Dutch governments have promoted self-employment of immigrants to reduce their unemployment rates. These policies have been focused on the (potential) actors themselves, i.e. the immigrants who have started or who may want to start a business. Taking mixed embeddedness as a point of departure, entrepreneurship and self-employment cannot be solely understood by focusing on the micro-level but has to include the larger macro and meso structures that impact on these actors' choices. In this paper, therefore, the focus is on the opportunity structure and on the policies that affect this set of options for starting a (small) business. A typology of policies that may alter this opportunity structure is offered.     

A dynamic analysis of educational progression of children of immigrants

This paper uses a parsimonious version of Cameron and Heckman's (2001) dynamic model of educational progression to determine at what stages of their educational careers children of immigrants fall behind their native peers and the magnitude of intergenerational transmission. The analyses are primarily directed towards explaining high dropout rates from vocational upper secondary education, identified as the main barrier to educational attainment. The results corroborate previous findings that family background is an important determinant of educational outcomes but also suggest that differences in endowments alone do not explain the observed gap in educational attainment between natives and ethnic minorities.     

Book review of Economic Geography of Higher Education: Knowledge Infrastructure and Learning Regions. Edited by ROEL RUTTEN,FRANS BOEKEMA and ELSA KUIJPERS (London: Routledge, 2003). [Pp. 258]

This paper focuses on the growing aspect of entrepreneurship associated with lifestyle-induced migration from wealthy countries, through investigating self-employment among expatriates from northern Europe in rural areas of southern France and Spain. Most expatriates had no prior experience of entrepreneurship and typically established their business opportunistically and some time after arrival. Based upon interviews with 41 expatriate households (operating 70 business ventures), the study explores the characteristics of the individuals involved, the nature of their businesses, factors influencing start-up, and processes and patterns of business development. Self-employment is shown to be the most effective available mechanism for supporting lifestyle objectives of expatriates who vary greatly in their skills, experience and resources. The study identifies significant differences between the respective groups from the two countries, reflecting the spatially differentiated character of migration in terms of age, education, qualifications and capital resources. These appear to have given rise to a more sophisticated profile of businesses in the French areas. Sharp differences in language skills as between the different countries are seen as influencing the ability of entrepreneurs to network with, and market to, the indigenous population, with implications for the future development of the businesses, and their local impact. The study seeks to augment standard conceptual approaches to entrepreneurship, through taking account of the primacy of the migration decision and specific related processes, and proposes a model that advances our understanding of the phenomenon.