COMMUNITY DETERMINANTS OF IMMIGRANT SELF-EMPLOYMENT: HUMAN CAPITAL SPILLOVERS AND ETHNIC ENCLAVES
I find evidence that human capital spillovers have positive effects on the proclivity of low human capital immigrants to self-employ. Human capital spillovers within an ethnic community can increase the self-employment propensity of its members by decreasing the costs associated with starting and running a business (especially, transaction costs and information costs). Immigrants who do not speak English and those with little formal education are more likely to be self-employed if they reside in an ethnic community boasting higher human capital. On the other hand, the educational attainment of co-ethnics does not appear to affect the self-employment choices of immigrants with a post-secondary education to become self-employed. Further analysis suggests that immigrants in communities with more human capital choose industries that are more capital-intensive. Overall, the results suggest that the communities in which immigrants reside influences their self-employment decisions. For low-skilled immigrants who face high costs to learning English and/or acquiring more education, these human capital spillovers may serve as an alternative resource of information and labor mobility.
Year of publication: |
2013-04
|
---|---|
Authors: | Sousa, Liliana |
Institutions: | Census Bureau, Department of Commerce |
Saved in:
freely available
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
FIRM AGE AND SIZE IN THE LONGITUDINAL EMPLOYER-HOUSEHOLD DYNAMICS DATA
Haltiwanger, John, (2014)
-
Firm age and size in the longitudinal employer-household dynamics data
Haltiwanger, John C., (2014)
-
Human Capital Outflows : Selection into Migration from the Northern Triangle
Del Carmen Hasbun, Giselle Eugenia, (2018)
- More ...