The Self-Employment Experience of Immigrants

George J. Borjas

NBER Working Paper No. 1942
Issued in May 1986
NBER Program(s):   LS

Self-employment is an important aspect of the immigrant experience in

the labor market. Self-employment rates for immigrants exceed 15 percent

for some national groups. This paper addresses three related questions on

the self-employment experience of immigrants. First, how do self-employment

rates of immigrants compare to those of native-born men? Second, is there

an 'assimilationtt effect on the self-employment propensity of immigrants?

Finally, are the more recent waves of immigrants facing different self-

employment opportunities than the earlier waves? Using the 1970 and 1980

U.S. Censuses, the analysis shows that indeed self-employment rates of

immigrants exceed those of native-born men; that there is a strong, positive

impact of assimilation on self-employment rates; and that more recent waves

of immigrants are opting with increasing frequency for the self-employment

option.

(240 K)

(180 K)

Published: Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 21, no. 4 (1986): 485-506.

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