Full Citation

Title: Coethnic Networking and Immigrant Self-Employment in the United States

Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis

Publication Year: 2010

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Abstract: In this paper, I investigate self-employment among the immigrant population in the United States. Besides education, language skills or years of settlement, coethnic networking is another important influence on the propensity for self-employment. I use instrumental variables based on a shift-share of national levels of immigration into metropolitan areas. I let this term interact with the self-employment rate of that immigrant group to reflect the different propensities for self-employment among different immigrant groups.I find that immigrants are more likely to become self-employed in the United States than natives, although the difference is not substantial. Among the immigrant population, having a family, owning a home and having a good command of English are positively correlated with being self-employed. Network size alone has a negative and significant effect on the probability of becoming self-employed. However, this relationship is modified by the nationwide group self-employment rate. There is a positive network effect in groups with high self-employment rate, and a negative effect in groups with low self-employment rate. There is also a strong positive interaction effect among immigrants who have a good command of English or a bachelors degree.

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Authors: Nguyen, Hai L.

Institution: Williams College

Department: Economics

Advisor: Lara D. Shore

Degree: Bachelor of Arts

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

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