The Press Stories
A study found that immigrants living in the U.S. are more likely to start a business than U.S.-born citizens.
A panel of American professors and economists conducted the studySurvey of Business Owners Conducted by the US Census Bureau in 2012, as well as census data and tax records of all new businesses created between 2005 and 2010 – more than a million of them.
The team reviewed the 2017 Fortune 500 list and found citizenship and immigration data for 449 founders of these companies.
Between 2005 and 2010, 0.83% of working immigrants started a business, while only 0.46% of working U.S. citizens did so — meaning immigrants were 80% more likely to start a business. The data ofSurvey of Business Owners of the Census Bureau Further This represented a 80% difference between companies created before 2005.
And immigrants didn’t just start small businesses—they started more businesses of all sizes. Pierre Azoulay, co-author of the study, said: “They create all kinds of businesses, and they create a lot.”
It found that firms started by immigrants paid their employees 0.7% more than firms started by US-born citizens.
Immigrants now make up more than 14% of the US population. Although the researchers did not examine the reasons why immigrants started more businesses, they pointed out that one of them is the difficulty they face integrating into the mainstream American workforce.
But there are many reasons that Mr. Azoulay believes. “For companies that end up big, it can be a different story for companies that start small and stay that way,” he said.
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