Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship and business creation is fundamental to a healthy economy. Companies less than five years old create an average of 1.5 million new jobs for Americans each year.† Immigrants in particular play an important role in creating jobs as they are more likely to start a new business than the rest of the population. Despite this, the United States lacks a startup visa to welcome immigrant entrepreneurs with a proven idea and solid investment. This results in many business owners struggling to stay—at a cost to our economy and its workers.
† Jason Wiens and Chris Jackson, “The Importance of Young Firms for Economic Growth,” September 13, 2015. Available online.
Let’s Embrace Foreign Job Creators Before It’s Too Late
Huffington Post October 2, 2012 Throughout American history, immigrants have been a vital source of economic growth, contributing ideas, innovation, wealth and a steady supply of vibrancy. This has helped position the United States as a central node in the global system of what my Kauffman colleague Ben Wildavsky… Read More
Economic Suicide: Chasing Away The Job-Creating Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Forbes October 2, 2012 At the immigration law firm where I worked during graduate school, I saw case after case of extremely talented individuals who, despite their many contributions to the U.S., faced the threat of returning home because of their immigration status. One such case involved the immigration… Read More
America To Immigrants: ‘Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor’ But Keep Your Entrepreneurs
Washington Post October 2, 2012 Hardik Desai conceived a startup while he was studying for an MBA at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University (OSU) in 2008. Based on research that the university was conducting, Desai came up with a new way to diagnose a group… Read More
Issue Brief: Immigration
CBS News October 1, 2012 THE ELECTORAL ISSUE: America’s immigration policy does not attract and retain high-skilled immigrants and it does not address the fate of the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants living here. THE CHALLENGE: How to secure the border, manage undocumented immigrants and admit immigrant workers of… Read More
DREAM Act Supporters Discuss Study On Economic Impact
NY1 October 1, 2012 A national report by the Center for American Progress & the Partnership for a New American Economy shows the nation’s fiscal health would improve, if more than 2.1 million eligible undocumented youth or DREAMers are granted legal status by passing the Dream Act. Click… Read More
Report: Texas Should Let In All The Immigrants
Beaumont Enterprise October 1, 2012 ‘Cause it would be big fat giant money. Our humble leader, Rick Perry, is all about the Benjamins. And the passage of the DREAM ACT would be an immediate boon to our bottom line. According to a joint report by the progressive Center for… Read More
Report: Approving DREAM Act Would Boost Arizona’s Economy
Cronkite News October 1, 2012 WASHINGTON – Arizona could add more than 83,000 jobs and see an additional $18.4 billion in economic activity by 2030 if the DREAM Act was approved, a new report claims. The Arizona impact is just part of the $329 billion in economic activity that… Read More
Crovitz: Washington’s New Twist on Human Sacrifice
Wall Street Journal September 30, 2012 In the 1990s, just before the handover of Hong Kong to China, there was a going-away lunch for the Canadian consul general. When I entered the venue, I thought it must be the wrong place. The hundreds of ethnic Chinese gathered for the… Read More
Bloomberg on Financial Collapse, Job Growth
CBS This Morning September 13, 2012 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7421442n&tag=mncol;lst;6/ BLOOMBERG: I think saying things like let’s invest in infrastructure. We need infrastructure desperately. But, infrastructure is not a jobs creation program in the short term. It gives us the tools to have an economy down the road, but most people… Read More
Immigrant Roots of Mega Millionaires
Millionaire Corner September 13, 2012 First and second generation Americans make up a disproportionate share of the nation’s mega millionaire investors, according to the latest Millionaire Corner research, which tracks a high degree of upward mobility among Americans born in another country, or who have foreign-born parents. Twelve percent… Read More
Immigrants Create American Jobs
How many jobs do immigrant entrepreneurs create? The data shows that firms owned by immigrants provide millions of jobs for U.S. workers and generate billions of dollars in annual income. With new business formation slowing in the United States, immigrant entrepreneurs have a critical role in many parts of the country, creating jobs for all Americans.
What percent of businesses are owned by immigrants?
The act of moving to another country is inherently courageous and risky. So, it comes as no surprise that immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than the rest of the population. In 2019, immigrant entrepreneurs made up 21.7 percent of all business owners in the United States, despite making up just over 13.6 percent of the population and 17.1 percent of the U.S. labor force.
Where Immigrants Are Most Entrepreneurial, 2019
Immigrants and the Recovery from the Great Recession
Foreign-born entrepreneurs and the jobs they created were instrumental in the recovery from the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2011, immigrant entrepreneurs founded a large share of new businesses across the country and in several key states.
Share of New Businesses Founded by Immigrants in Select States, 2007-2011
Which Industries Are Immigrant Businesses Most Prevalent?
As important as the frequency with which immigrants start businesses is the diversity of fields in which they start them. Immigrants start more than 25 percent of all businesses in seven of the eight sectors that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to grow the fastest over the next decade. They also play a large role in founding both Main Street businesses1 and high-tech firms.2
Sources:
1 David Dyssegaard Kallick, “Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow,” New York: Fiscal Policy Institute and Americas Society/Council of the Americas, 2015. Available online.
2 Vivek Wadhwa et al., “America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Part I,” SSRN Scholarly Paper (Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network, 2007). Available online.
Share of Businesses Started by Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Seven Key Sectors, 2007-2011
Immigrants Found both Main Street Businesses and High-Tech Firms
Business Ownership Among Immigrant Groups
Looking at specific ethnic and national origin groups within the immigrant population, we find that many exhibit entrepreneurship rates higher than the native-born. At right we highlight the particular contributions of Middle Eastern business owners in Detroit, a group frequently credited with helping to spur the city’s recent economic comeback.
Sources:
3 Steve Tobocman, “Guide to Immigrant Economic Development,” Welcoming America, accessed July 5, 2016. Available online.
4 New American Economy, "Reason for Reform: Entrepreneurship," October 2016. Available online.
Entrepreneurship Rates for Immigrant Subgroups, 2014
Immigrants and the Fortune 500
Consistent with past NAE research, a significant number of firms on the most recent Fortune 500 list were founded by immigrants or their children. These companies make enormous contributions to both the U.S. and global economy. They also live on beyond their founders, generating jobs and revenue long after their visionaries retire or move on.
Visa Obstacles
Currently, there is no visa for those who want to come to the United States, start a company, and create jobs for U.S. workers. To access a visa, many immigrant entrepreneurs choose to sell a majority stake in their company and then apply for a visa as a high-skilled worker rather than as the owner of the firm. Our broken H-1B visa system, however, means that many entrepreneurs cannot get a visa before the cap is exhausted each year. In 2016, the White House proposed a rule that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to remain in the country, but it is clear a more permanent, legislative fix is needed.5
Sources:
5 Issie Lapowski, “White House Proposes a New Immigration Rule for Entrepreneurs,” WIRED, accessed December 14, 2016. Available online.
6“USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2016,” USCIS, accessed December 14, 2016. Available online.
Low-Skilled Entrepreneurship
Immigrant entrepreneurs are hardly a monolithic group. While much of the attention is focused on high-skilled foreign-born entrepreneurs that drive innovation in Silicon Valley, immigrant entrepreneurs with humbler backgrounds continue to play critical roles in the U.S. economy. Founding retail shops, restaurants, and personal service businesses, these immigrant entrepreneurs help towns and cities across the United States stay vibrant. In sum, the over 2.1 million immigrant entrepreneurs with less than a college degree have a significant economic impact, creating billions of dollars in economic activity and providing jobs to thousands of Americans.
Top Industries Among Immigrant Entrepreneurs with Less than a Bachelor’s Degree, 2015
Entrepreneurship Rates of Workers in Various Demographic Groups, 2015
Business Income of Less-Skilled Immigrant Entrepreneurs, 2015
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
