Elevator pitch
Immigrants are widely perceived to be highly entrepreneurial, contributing to economic growth and innovation, and self-employment is often viewed as a means of enhancing labor market integration and success among immigrants. Accordingly, many countries have established special visas and entry requirements to attract immigrant entrepreneurs. Research supports some of these stances, but expectations may be too high. There is no strong evidence that self-employment is an effective tool of upward economic mobility among low-skilled immigrants. More broadly prioritizing high-skilled immigrants may prove to be more successful than focusing on entrepreneurship.
Key findings
Pros
Business ownership is higher among foreign-born than native-born workers.
Entrepreneurship positively affects labor market integration.
High-skilled immigrants contribute to innovation.
Cons
Many immigrant business owners are low-skilled, with low income.
Business ownership is not an effective tool for significantly improving the economic outcomes of low-skilled immigrants.
The effectiveness of immigrant entrepreneurship visa programs is unknown.
