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| | '''Immigrant entrepreneurship''' is the founding and ownership of businesses by individuals who have relocated from their country of birth to another country. The concept encompasses a range of entrepreneurial activity, from self-employment and small businesses to the creation of larger firms and technology companies.<ref name="Berghoff2017">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Berghoff |first=Hartmut |title=Immigrant Entrepreneurship: A Typology Based on Historical and Contemporary Evidence |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2017 |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.013.270 |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/61793/chapter/545971848}}</ref> Research in the field examines factors including access to capital and networks, motivations for business formation, economic outcomes, and the relationship between migration and entrepreneurship.<ref name="Fairlie2015">{{cite book | last1=Fairlie | first1=Robert W. | last2=Lofstrom | first2=Magnus | title=Handbook of the Economics of International Migration | chapter=Immigration and Entrepreneurship | publisher=Elsevier | volume=1 | date=2015 | isbn=978-0-444-63372-9 | doi=10.1016/b978-0-444-53768-3.00017-5 | url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780444537683000175 | access-date=2026-08-11 | pages=877–911}}</ref> It is an established subject of research in economics, sociology, business, and related fields.<ref name="Kerr2016">{{cite report | last1=Kerr | first1=Sari Pekkala | last2=Kerr | first2=William | title=Immigrant Entrepreneurship | publication-place=Cambridge, MA | date=2016 | doi=10.3386/w22385 | url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w22385.pdf | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> |
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| '''Immigrant entrepreneurship''' refers to the founding or ownership of businesses by individuals who have immigrated to a country other than their country of birth. Such entrepreneurs have contributed in the economic development of many countries. Notable examples include [[Andrew Carnegie]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gould |first=Sam |title=Andrew Carnegie: Scottish Immigrant, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist |journal=University of Dayton Review |volume=23 |issue=3 |year=1995 |url=https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udr/vol23/iss3/5}}</ref> [[Alexander Graham Bell]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bell_alexander_graham.shtml |website=BBC History |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> and [[Elon Musk]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Sommerlad |first=Joe |title=Elon Musk, who arrived in the U.S. at age 31, is being questioned on his citizenship again. What to know |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-citizenship-us-south-africa-canada-b2693635.html |work=The Independent |date=6 February 2025 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> in the United States; [[Paul Julius Reuter]] in Britain;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Reuter, Paul Julius, Freiherr von |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/reuter-paul-julius-freiherr-von |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> and [[James de Rothschild]], who established the French branch of the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild dynasty]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Rothschild family |encyclopedia=|url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Rothschild-family |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> Other examples include [[Lakshmi Mittal]], who built [[ArcelorMittal]] into one of the world's largest steel producers;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Lakshmi Mittal |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Lakshmi-Mittal |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> [[Liem Sioe Liong]], who founded the [[Salim Group]], which became the largest business conglomerate in [[Southeast Asia]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Founder of Indonesia's Salim Group dies at 97 |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10365506 |work=Korea Herald |agency=AFP |date=12 June 2012 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> and [[Helena Rubinstein]] who established an international cosmetics business.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Helena Rubinstein |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Helena-Rubinstein |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> | |
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| ==Patterns and prevalence== | | ==Definition and scope== |
| Research indicates that immigrants found businesses at higher rates than native-born populations in several developed countries, including the [[United States]], [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], and [[Australia]].<ref name="Kerr2016">{{cite journal |last=Kerr |first=Sari Pekkala |last2=Kerr |first2=William R. |title=Immigrant Entrepreneurship |journal=NBER Working Paper |number=17-011 |year=2016 |url=https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/17-011_da2c1cf4-a999-4159-ab95-457c783e3fff.pdf}}</ref>
| | Immigrant entrepreneurs operate across industries, populations, and host countries, and vary in both their backgrounds and business activities. They are studied as a distinct group because of the interrelationship between migration and access to resources, professional networks, markets, and employment opportunities.<ref name="Berghoff2017"/> The scale of this activity is reflected in OECD's ''International Migration Outlook 2024'' which reported that migrant entrepreneurs accounted for approximately 17% of the self-employed population across OECD countries in 2022, up from 11% in 2006.<ref name="OECD2024">{{cite web | title=Migrant entrepreneurship in OECD countries: International Migration Outlook 2024 | website=OECD | date=2024-11-14 | url=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/international-migration-outlook-2024_50b0353e-en/full-report/migrant-entrepreneurship-in-oecd-countries_72f44494.html | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> |
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| Across [[OECD]] countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's ''International Migration Outlook 2024'' reports that migrant entrepreneurs represented 17% of the self-employed population in 2022, up from 11% in 2006. The report also states that migrant self-employment accounted for approximately 15% of total employment growth between 2011 and 2021.<ref name="OECD2024">{{cite report |chapter=Migrant Entrepreneurship in OECD Countries |title=International Migration Outlook 2024 |publisher=OECD |year=2024 |url=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/international-migration-outlook-2024_50b0353e-en/full-report/migrant-entrepreneurship-in-oecd-countries_72f44494.html}}</ref> The report notes that patterns of immigrant entrepreneurship vary across countries and regions.<ref name="OECD2024"/>
| | ==Frameworks== |
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| | Several theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain patterns of immigrant entrepreneurship. [[Ethnic enclave|Ethnic enclave economy]] theory describes concentrated clusters of co-ethnic businesses that provide employment and economic opportunity within immigrant communities.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Light | first1=Ivan | last2=Sabagh | first2=Georges | last3=Bozorgmehr | first3=Mehdi | last4=Der-Martirosian | first4=Claudia | title=Beyond the Ethnic Enclave Economy | journal=Social Problems | volume=41 | issue=1 | date=1994 | doi=10.2307/3096842 | pages=65–80 | url=https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/3096842 | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> [[Middleman minority]] theory describes entrepreneurs who serve as intermediaries between dominant and subordinate groups.<ref name="MinBozorgmehr2000">{{cite journal | last1=Min | first1=Pyong Gap | last2=Bozorgmehr | first2=Mehdi | title=Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Business Patterns: A Comparison of Koreans and Iranians in Los Angeles | journal=International Migration Review | volume=34 | issue=3 | date=2000 | doi=10.2307/2675942 | page=707 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2675942?origin=crossref | access-date=2026-05-17}}</ref> Mixed embeddedness theory proposes that outcomes are shaped by both the resources of the immigrant community and the opportunity structures of the host economy.<ref name="Salehi2026">{{cite journal | last=Salehi | first=Ali | title=Understanding the Nature of Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Literature Review | journal=Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies | volume=13 | issue=1 | date=2026-02-02 | issn=2149-1291 | doi=10.29333/ejecs/2252 | pages=276–308 | url=https://www.ejecs.org/index.php/JECS/article/view/2252 | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> The blocked mobility hypothesis claims that barriers to employment, including non-recognition of qualifications and labour market discrimination, may push some immigrants toward self-employment.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> |
| Additional data describe the scale and growth of immigrant entrepreneurship in specific contexts. According to the American Immigration Council, in 2024 approximately 46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, with those companies generating $8.6 trillion in revenue and employing over 15.5 million people worldwide.<ref name="AIC2024">{{cite web |title=Fortune 500 Companies Founded by Immigrants |url=https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/new-american-fortune-500-2024/ |website=American Immigration Council |year=2024 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| In the United States, a 2019 review published in [[IZA World of Labor]] by economist Magnus Lofstrom reports that the foreign-born share of business owners more than doubled between 1980 and 2010.<ref name="Lofstrom2019">{{cite journal |last=Lofstrom |first=Magnus |title=Immigrants and Entrepreneurship |journal=IZA World of Labor |year=2019 |url=https://wol.iza.org/articles/immigrants-and-entrepreneurship/long}}</ref> A study using [[United States Census Bureau]] data found that immigrant entrepreneurs accounted for approximately 24% of new business founders between 1995 and 2008, with the share rising from 17% in 1995 to 27% in 2008.<ref name="Kerr2016" /> A separate analysis based on the [[American Community Survey]] found that by around 2010, immigrants represented approximately 18.2% of all United States business owners despite comprising 16.3% of the workforce, and started businesses at roughly double the rate of the native-born population.<ref name="Fairlie2015">{{cite book |last=Fairlie |first=Robert W. |last2=Lofstrom |first2=Magnus |chapter=Immigration and Entrepreneurship |title=Handbook of the Economics of International Migration |volume=1B |publisher=Elsevier |year=2015 |pages=877-911 |url=https://people.ucsc.edu/~rfairlie/papers/published/handbook%20chapter%20immigrant%20entrepreneurship%202015.pdf}}</ref>
| | ==Economic Contributions== |
| | Businesses founded by immigrants have been shown to contribute to employment growth, innovation, and international trade in their host economies. They establish businesses at higher rates than native-born populations across many developed economies,<ref name="Kerr2016"/> and a 2024 report found that approximately 46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.<ref name="AIC2024">{{cite web | title=Fortune 500 Companies Founded by Immigrants [2024] | website=American Immigration Council | date=2026-06-17 | url=https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/new-american-fortune-500-2024/ | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> In high-technology sectors, immigrant-founded firms show higher rates of patenting, research activity, and product development.<ref name="Brown2019">{{cite report | last1=Brown | first1=J. David | last2=Earle | first2=John | last3=Kim | first3=Mee Jung | last4=Lee | first4=Kyung Min | title=Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovation in the U.S. High-Tech Sector | publication-place=Cambridge, MA | date=2019 | doi=10.3386/w25565 | url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w25565.pdf | access-date=2026-08-11}}</ref> Immigrant-owned firms also participate in international trade at higher rates than native-owned firms, a pattern associated with transnational networks and knowledge of foreign markets.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> Self-employment whiich common to immigrants, can also serve as a pathway to economic integration, with earnings among self-employed immigrants tending to converge toward those of native-born entrepreneurs over time.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> |
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| ==Entrepreneurship by sector== | | ==Diaspora and networks== |
| Immigrant entrepreneurship spans a wide range of industries, with particularly notable contributions in certain sectors. The following sections highlight selected areas where this impact has been especially significant.
| | Diaspora communities provide an important organisational and networking context for immigrant entrepreneurship. Members often function as economic intermediaries, bridging home and host country networks through shared language, cultural knowledge, and transnational ties.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Fang | first1=Tony | last2=Wells | first2=Alex | title=Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics | chapter=Diaspora Economics | publisher=Springer International Publishing | publication-place=Cham | date=2023 | isbn=978-3-319-57365-6 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_105-1 | url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_105-1 | access-date=2026-08-11 | pages=1–23}}</ref> Co-ethnic networks can provide access to information, resources, customers, and business relationships, while shared trust and social ties can facilitate business formation..<ref name="MinBozorgmehr2000"/><ref name="Salehi2026"/> |
| ===Technology===
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| Immigrant founders have played a prominent role in the technology industry. A 2019 study by Brown, Earle, Kim and Lee, using United States Census Bureau data, found higher rates of innovation in immigrant-owned high-tech firms across 15 of 16 different innovation measures, with the advantage holding for both recent start-ups and older firms, and at every level of the entrepreneur's education.<ref name="Brown2019">{{cite journal |last=Brown |first=J. David |last2=Earle |first2=John S. |last3=Kim |first3=Mee Jung |last4=Lee |first4=Kyung Min |title=Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovation in the U.S. High-Tech Sector |journal=NBER Working Paper |number=25565 |year=2019 |url=https://www.nber.org/papers/w25565}}</ref> Among venture capital-backed firms in the United States specifically, immigrants constituted approximately 30% of founders in 2005, modestly exceeding their overall share of entrepreneurial activity.<ref name="Kerr2016"/> Notable examples include [[Sergey Brin]], who emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States as a child and co-founded [[Google]] in 1998;<ref>{{cite web |last=Greenstein |first=Shane |title=Without Immigrants, We Wouldn't Have Google |url=https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/without-immigrants-we-wouldn-t-have-google |website=Harvard Business School Working Knowledge |date=21 December 2015 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> and [[Jensen Huang]], who emigrated from Taiwan to the United States at the age of nine and co-founded [[NVIDIA]] in 1993, which became one of the world's most valuable technology companies.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Jensen Huang |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Jensen-Huang |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ===Finance and banking===
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| Immigrant entrepreneurs played a formative role in shaping the modern banking and financial services industry in the United States, introducing practices and institutions that became central to the country's economic architecture. Research has documented significant immigrant business ownership in financial services, with immigrants representing a substantial share of business owners in this sector.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> German-Jewish immigrants in particular were instrumental in developing the commercial paper market, investment banking, and the infrastructure of Wall Street during the 19th and early 20th centuries, often serving communities and markets that established institutions had ignored or lacked the networks to reach.
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| [[Marcus Goldman]], a Bavarian-born Jewish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1848, founded what would become [[Goldman Sachs]] in 1869 as a one-room commercial paper brokerage in Lower Manhattan, building it into one of Wall Street's premier firms by the turn of the century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Goldman Sachs |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/money/Goldman-Sachs-Group-Inc |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> Beyond individual firm-building, immigrant financiers also shaped the broader regulatory and institutional framework of American finance. [[Paul Warburg]], a Hamburg-born banker who emigrated to the United States in 1902 and became a naturalized citizen in 1911, is widely credited as the primary intellectual architect of the [[Federal Reserve System]], drawing on his knowledge of European central banking to design the institutional framework that Congress enacted in 1913, and serving on its inaugural board from 1914.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul M. Warburg |url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/paul-m-warburg |website=Federal Reserve History |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ===Media and entertainment===
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| ====Film and television====
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| Immigrant entrepreneurs played a formative role in the establishment of the American film industry. [[Harry Warner]] and his brothers, born in Poland and raised in the United States, founded [[Warner Bros.]] in 1923, one of the major Hollywood studios whose output shaped American cinema throughout the 20th century.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Warner Brothers |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Warner-Brothers |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> In the modern era, Australian-born [[Rupert Murdoch]] became a naturalized United States citizen in 1985 and built [[News Corp]] and [[Fox Corporation]] into one of the most influential media conglomerates in the world.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Rupert Murdoch |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rupert-Murdoch |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ====Journalism====
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| Hungarian-born [[Joseph Pulitzer]] immigrated to the United States in 1864, became a naturalized citizen in 1867, and went on to found the [[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] and acquire the [[New York World]], transforming both into major instruments of popular journalism. He endowed the [[Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism]] and established the [[Pulitzer Prize]], awarded annually since 1917.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Joseph Pulitzer |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Pulitzer |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ====Digital media====
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| [[Steve Chen]], who immigrated from Taiwan to the United States as a child, co-founded [[YouTube]] in 2005, which was acquired by [[Google]] the following year for $1.65 billion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Steven Chen |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/steven-chen |website=EBSCO Research Starters |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ====Music====
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| Cuban-born [[Emilio Estefan]] immigrated to Miami following the Cuban Revolution and co-founded the [[Miami Sound Machine]], producing and developing artists including [[Gloria Estefan]], [[Ricky Martin]], [[Shakira]], and [[Jennifer Lopez]], and is widely credited with catalysing the crossover explosion of Latin music in the United States during the late 1990s.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=|title=Estefan, Emilio, Jr. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/economics-magazines/estefan-emilio-jr |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> His wife [[Gloria Estefan]], also Cuban-born, became one of the best-selling recording artists in history and received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1993, awarded to exceptional naturalized United States citizens.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gloria Estefan |url=https://www.ilctr.org/about-immigrants/ilc-publications-and-resources/nine-famous-latinx-immigrants/ |website=Immigrant Learning Center |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ===Retail and food===
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| Immigrant entrepreneurs are well represented in retail, food service, and agriculture across many regions of the world. Research from Ireland, Sweden, and Southeast Asia illustrates the breadth of this presence: studies have documented immigrant food entrepreneurs operating across these regions, often filling niche markets with ethnic food products unavailable to local consumers, and using food entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic integration when formal employment is less accessible.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Murphy |first=Anna |last2=Bogue |first2=Joe |last3=O'Flaherty |first3=Brian |title=Exploration of the Role of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Regional Entrepreneurial Food Ecosystems |journal=Proceedings of the European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship |year=2020 |doi=10.34190/EIE/20.214}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Barth |first=Henrik |last2=Zalkat |first2=Ghazal |title=Refugee entrepreneurship in the agri-food industry: The Swedish experience |journal=Journal of Rural Studies |volume=86 |year=2021 |pages=189-197 |doi=10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.06.011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Tran |first=Thu Cuc |last2=Meyer |first2=Morakot |last3=Zhu |first3=Tingshu |last4=Do |first4=Thuy Thanh Thi |title=Vietnamese food entrepreneurs in Bangkok's Baan Yuan |journal=Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies |year=2026 |doi=10.1080/1369183X.2025.2601335}}</ref>
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| Immigrant entrepreneurs have also demonstrated a capacity to create entirely new markets rather than simply serving existing ones. Research on the United States labour market documents how Vietnamese immigrants transformed the nail care industry by establishing walk-in salons offering manicures and pedicures at a fraction of the price of traditional beauty salons, expanding access to a service previously available only to affluent consumers and generating sustained demand for their labour.<ref name="Eckstein2018">{{cite journal |last=Eckstein |first=Susan |last2=Peri |first2=Giovanni |title=Immigrant Niches and Immigrant Networks in the U.S. Labor Market |journal=RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |volume=4 |issue=1 |year=2018 |pages=1-17 |doi=10.7758/rsf.2018.4.1.01}}</ref> Similar dynamics have been observed in the restaurant sector, where the presence of immigrant entrepreneurs has been shown to increase the variety of dining options available to consumers in cities across the United States.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/> Research on immigrant-owned businesses in a Chicago retail district found that retail and personal services were among the most common sectors of entry, with many businesses beginning informally before transitioning to established enterprises as owners accumulated capital, experience, and market knowledge.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Raijman |first=Rebeca |last2=Tienda |first2=Marta |title=Immigrants' Paijman |first=Rebeca |last2=Tienda |first2=Marta |title=Immigrants' Pathways to Business Ownership: A Comparative Ethnic Perspective |journal=International Migration Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |year=2000 |pages=682-706 |doi=10.2307/2675941}}</ref> In the United States specifically, immigrants make up approximately one third of entrepreneurs in the food service and accommodation sector.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/>
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| ==Entrepreneurship by diaspora==
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| Several diaspora immigrant communities have demonstrated sustained rates of business creation across their host countries. This pattern is frequently attributed to co-ethnic networks, pooled capital, and trust-based commercial relationships that lower barriers to market entry.
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| ===Chinese diaspora===
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| The Chinese diaspora has established significant entrepreneurial presences across Southeast Asia, North America, and Australasia. In Southeast Asia, ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs built some of the largest business conglomerates of the 20th century, of which [[Liem Sioe Liong]] is among the most documented examples: emigrating from Fujian province to Indonesia in 1936, he founded the [[Salim Group]], which became the largest business conglomerate in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Founder of Indonesia's Salim Group dies at 97 |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10365506 |work=Korea Herald |agency=AFP |date=12 June 2012 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> In the United States, Chinese immigrants have established substantial commercial presences in the restaurant sector, with research documenting how Chinese employment agencies channel workers into restaurant jobs across the country, and how Chinese entrepreneurs have extended this niche vertically by owning the bus companies that transport these workers between cities.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/> Chinese immigrant business owners represented approximately 3.1% of all immigrant business owners in the United States in the late 2000s, with a business ownership rate of 10%.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/>
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| ===Indian diaspora===
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| Indian immigrants have demonstrated high rates of entrepreneurial activity across multiple host countries, with particularly strong concentrations in technology, retail, and financial services. In the United States, Indian immigrant business owners recorded the highest average business earnings of any immigrant group at approximately $84,080, driven largely by their high levels of education, with nearly 70% holding at least a four-year college degree.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> Indian entrepreneurs have been especially prominent in Silicon Valley, where they built transnational networks linking American technology firms with talent and subsidiary operations in India, a pattern researchers have described as brain circulation, in which capital, expertise, and professional connections flow in both directions across borders.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/> Indian immigrants also established a notable concentration in the motel industry in the United States, where the Gujarati community in particular built a significant ownership niche through co-ethnic networks and pooled capital.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/>
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| ===Korean diaspora===
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| Korean immigrants have established some of the highest rates of business ownership of any immigrant group, with approximately 23.1% of Korean immigrants in the United States owning a business in the late 2000s.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> Research comparing Korean and Iranian entrepreneurs in Los Angeles found that Korean businesses rely heavily on ethnic resources including unpaid family labour, co-ethnic employees, rotating credit associations, and co-ethnic customers, resulting in a concentration of smaller, co-ethnic facing businesses often located in low-income minority neighbourhoods.<ref name="MinBozorgmehr2000">{{cite journal |last=Min |first=Pyong Gap |last2=Bozorgmehr |first2=Mehdi |title=Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Business Patterns: A Comparison of Koreans and Iranians in Los Angeles |journal=International Migration Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |year=2000 |pages=707-738 |doi=10.2307/2675942}}</ref> Research on immigrant-owned businesses in Chicago documented a strong concentration of Korean entrepreneurs in clothing retail, with nearly 63% of Korean-owned storefronts in one commercial district engaged in clothing and related goods, and found that Korean-owned enterprises served as training platforms for further Korean self-employment, with workers frequently transitioning to ownership in the same line of business.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Raijman |first=Rebeca |last2=Tienda |first2=Marta |title=Immigrants' Pathways to Business Ownership: A Comparative Ethnic Perspective |journal=International Migration Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |year=2000 |pages=682-706 |doi=10.2307/2675941}}</ref> A similar pattern has been documented in the dry-cleaning sector, where Korean immigrants came to own a large share of dry-cleaning shops in American cities, building on experience first gained as employees in the same industry.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/>
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| ===Persian diaspora===
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| Iranian immigrants have recorded among the highest rates of business ownership of any immigrant group in the United States, with approximately 24.4% of Iranian immigrants owning a business in the late 2000s, the highest rate of any country of origin in major surveys.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/> Research comparing Korean and Iranian entrepreneurs in Los Angeles found that Iranian immigrants rely more heavily on class resources such as education, English fluency, and pre-migration business experience than on ethnic networks, in contrast to most other immigrant entrepreneurial groups. Iranian-owned businesses are characteristically larger, more geographically dispersed, and serve predominantly non-ethnic customers, a pattern that distinguishes them from the concentrated co-ethnic commerce typical of Korean or Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs.<ref name="MinBozorgmehr2000"/> Iranian immigration came in two waves: pre-revolution students and professionals who remained in the United States after 1979, and post-revolution exiles including religious minorities, both groups contributing to an exceptionally high rate of professional and entrepreneurial activity.<ref name="MinBozorgmehr2000"/> Qualitative research on Iranian women entrepreneurs in Los Angeles documented a range of home-operated and family-run businesses including clothing retail, grocery stores, and food production, in which ethnic networks, Persian language, and cultural knowledge of community needs served as competitive advantages.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dallalfar |first=Arlene |title=Iranian Women as Immigrant Entrepreneurs |journal=Gender and Society |volume=8 |issue=4 |year=1994 |pages=541-561 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/189817}}</ref>
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| ===Lebanese diaspora===
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| Lebanese immigrants have established entrepreneurial presences across West Africa and Latin America, building commercial networks that in some regions predated independence. In West Africa, Lebanese traders established dominant positions in retail cloth and clothing, import-export, and light industry across Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon and other countries from the early twentieth century, leveraging family networks and community credit systems to sustain their commercial position across generations.<ref name="OBrien1975">{{cite journal |last=O'Brien |first=Rita Cruise |title=Lebanese Entrepreneurs in Senegal: Economic Integration and the Politics of Protection |journal=Cahiers d'Études Africaines |volume=15 |issue=57 |year=1975 |pages=95-115 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4391369}}</ref> A survey of commercial establishments in Dakar in 1959 found that Lebanese entrepreneurs owned 77% of clothing and cloth retail shops and 81% of hotels, bars and restaurants in the city.<ref name="OBrien1975"/> The Lebanese diaspora in South America, which dates from the late 19th century, similarly developed prominent entrepreneurial communities across multiple countries, with Lebanese and Syrian migrants described by business historians as standing out in local business communities across the region, especially in commerce and services.<ref>{{cite web |last=Austin |first=Gareth |title=Emerging Markets and the Future of Business History |url=https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/18-012_47e98088-6b60-4630-bf51-f6ca5abfe766.pdf |publisher=Harvard Business School |year=2018 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ===Jewish diaspora===
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| Jewish immigrants have played a historically significant role in banking, finance, media, and retail across Europe and North America, with their entrepreneurial presence frequently shaped by legal restrictions on other occupations in their countries of origin. In the United States, German-Jewish immigrants were instrumental in the development of Wall Street and American investment banking during the 19th and early 20th centuries, founding firms that became central to the country's financial architecture. [[Marcus Goldman]], who arrived from Bavaria in 1848, founded what would become [[Goldman Sachs]], while [[Paul Warburg]], who emigrated from Hamburg in 1902, is widely credited as the primary intellectual architect of the [[Federal Reserve System]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Paul M. Warburg |url=https://www.federalreservehistory.org/people/paul-m-warburg |website=Federal Reserve History |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> In the media sector, Hungarian-born [[Joseph Pulitzer]] founded major American newspapers and endowed the journalism school and prize that bear his name, while the Warner brothers, born in Poland, founded [[Warner Bros.]] and helped establish the Hollywood studio system.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Joseph Pulitzer |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Pulitzer |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Warner Brothers |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Warner-Brothers |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ===African diaspora===
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| African immigrant entrepreneurs have established notable commercial presences in several host countries, often concentrating in specific service sector niches. In the United States, Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants built a significant ownership presence in the taxi industry in Washington DC, transitioning from employment as drivers to ownership of the companies themselves through co-ethnic networks, in a pattern consistent with the stepladder model of immigrant business formation documented in other communities.<ref name="Eckstein2018"/> In Europe, refugee entrepreneurs from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East have established food, agricultural, and service businesses in rural areas of Sweden and other Nordic countries, with research finding that access to niche markets, community support, and government assistance were among the key motivating factors for business entry.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barth |first=Henrik |last2=Zalkat |first2=Ghazal |title=Refugee entrepreneurship in the agri-food industry: The Swedish experience |journal=Journal of Rural Studies |volume=86 |year=2021 |pages=189-197 |doi=10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.06.011}}</ref>
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| ===Hispanic diaspora===
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| Considerable entrepreneurial presence exists in the United States, though outcomes vary significantly by national origin. Mexican immigrants represent the largest single source country group among United States immigrant business owners, accounting for approximately 23.4% of the total, though their business ownership rate falls below the national average, a pattern attributed largely to lower average levels of education and wealth and, for undocumented individuals, barriers related to legal status. Cuban immigrants, by contrast, show a substantially higher business ownership rate of 14.8%, with self-employment rates found to increase in areas of high Hispanic residential concentration.<ref name="Fairlie2015" />
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| ==Women immigrant entrepreneurs==
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| Women have featured prominently among immigrant entrepreneurs across multiple sectors and host countries, though they remain underrepresented in the broader literature. Research on Iranian immigrant women entrepreneurs in Los Angeles found that gender shapes access to ethnic resources differently for men and women, with home-operated businesses representing a distinctive pathway for women who faced barriers to external employment, combining ethnic networks, cultural knowledge, and community trust as competitive advantages in sectors including clothing retail, food production, and personal services.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dallalfar |first=Arlene |title=Iranian Women as Immigrant Entrepreneurs |journal=Gender and Society |volume=8 |issue=4 |year=1994 |pages=541-561 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/189817}}</ref> [[Joyce Chen]], who emigrated from China to the United States in 1949, founded restaurants, a cookware company, and a television programme credited with introducing Mandarin cuisine to American audiences.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Chen, Joyce (1918-1994) |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/chen-joyce-1918-1994 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> [[Amina Moghe Hersi]], a Somali-Kenyan entrepreneur who emigrated to Uganda in 1998, built a multimillion-dollar business empire spanning real estate, hardware distribution, and manufacturing, and was named African Businesswoman of the Year by The New Economy in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |title=Spotlight: Real Muloodi Amina Hersi Moghe |url=https://realmuloodi.co.ug/spotlight-real-muloodi-amina-hersi-moghe/ |website=Real Muloodi News |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| ==Academic perspectives==
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| Self-employment has been identified in the academic literature as a significant pathway for labour market integration among immigrant populations. Research indicates, however, that entrepreneurship yields stronger economic outcomes for high-skilled immigrants than for those with lower levels of formal qualification. Studies based on United States data suggest that immigrant-founded businesses tend to show greater employment growth over the medium term compared to native-founded businesses, though without a corresponding advantage in payroll growth, and with higher rates of both failure and expansion relative to native-founded firms.<ref name="Kerr2016" /> Immigrant-owned businesses have also been found to export at higher rates than native-owned businesses, a pattern attributed to commercial networks, shared language, and cultural ties with countries of origin.<ref name="Fairlie2015" />
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| Research on immigrant entrepreneurship in the United States high-tech sector has found that immigrant-owned firms demonstrate higher rates of innovation across a broad range of measures, including product innovation, process innovation, research and development, and patenting. A 2019 study found this advantage persists after controlling for demographic characteristics, start-up financing, motivations, and industry, suggesting it reflects a genuine difference in entrepreneurial behaviour rather than compositional factors.<ref name="Brown2019"/> A 2025 study of nearly 91,000 United States start-ups by researchers at UC Berkeley and the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business found that ventures with mixed immigrant and native-born founding teams outperformed those founded by either group alone, employing 20% more people after three years, raising larger funding rounds, and filing significantly more patents. The researchers attributed the advantage to expanded access to international talent, capital, and markets.<ref>{{cite web |title=For startup success, teams with both U.S.-born and immigrant founders have an edge |url=https://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research/for-startup-success-teams-with-both-u-s-born-and-immigrant-founders-have-an-edge-study-shows/ |website=UC Berkeley Haas School of Business |date=23 September 2025 |access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref>
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| A further strand of research examines the motivations behind immigrant entrepreneurship and its long-term economic outcomes. The blocked mobility hypothesis proposes that immigrants who face barriers to employment commensurate with their education and skills, including non-recognition of foreign qualifications, language barriers, and labour market discrimination, are more likely to turn to self-employment as an alternative route to economic advancement. Research on Korean and Middle Eastern immigrant entrepreneurs in Chicago found that these groups were significantly more likely than white or Hispanic business owners to cite labour market disadvantage as a reason for entering self-employment, consistent with the blocked mobility argument.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Raijman |first=Rebeca |last2=Tienda |first2=Marta |title=Immigrants' Pathways to Business Ownership: A Comparative Ethnic Perspective |journal=International Migration Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |year=2000 |pages=682-706 |doi=10.2307/2675941}}</ref> Over time, however, research suggests that self-employment can serve as an effective integration pathway. Studies based on United States Census data found that self-employment probabilities and earnings for immigrants increase with time spent in the country, with evidence that self-employed immigrants may approach earnings parity with observationally similar native-born entrepreneurs after approximately 25 years of residence, a convergence not consistently observed among immigrant wage and salary workers.<ref name="Fairlie2015"/>
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| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
| * [[Minority business enterprise]] | | * [[Minority business enterprise]] |
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| | * [[Entrepreneurship]] |
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| ==References== | | ==References== |
| {{Reflist}} | | {{Reflist}} |
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| | {{DEFAULTSORT:Immigrant entrepreneurship}} |
| | [[Category:Entrepreneurship]] |
| | [[Category:Immigration]] |
| | [[Category:Diasporas]] |
| | [[Category:Economic sociology]] |
| | [[Category:Labour economics]] |
Immigrant entrepreneurship is the founding and ownership of businesses by individuals who have relocated from their country of birth to another country. The concept encompasses a range of entrepreneurial activity, from self-employment and small businesses to the creation of larger firms and technology companies.[1] Research in the field examines factors including access to capital and networks, motivations for business formation, economic outcomes, and the relationship between migration and entrepreneurship.[2] It is an established subject of research in economics, sociology, business, and related fields.[3]
Definition and scope
Immigrant entrepreneurs operate across industries, populations, and host countries, and vary in both their backgrounds and business activities. They are studied as a distinct group because of the interrelationship between migration and access to resources, professional networks, markets, and employment opportunities.[1] The scale of this activity is reflected in OECD's International Migration Outlook 2024 which reported that migrant entrepreneurs accounted for approximately 17% of the self-employed population across OECD countries in 2022, up from 11% in 2006.[4]
Frameworks
Several theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain patterns of immigrant entrepreneurship. Ethnic enclave economy theory describes concentrated clusters of co-ethnic businesses that provide employment and economic opportunity within immigrant communities.[5] Middleman minority theory describes entrepreneurs who serve as intermediaries between dominant and subordinate groups.[6] Mixed embeddedness theory proposes that outcomes are shaped by both the resources of the immigrant community and the opportunity structures of the host economy.[7] The blocked mobility hypothesis claims that barriers to employment, including non-recognition of qualifications and labour market discrimination, may push some immigrants toward self-employment.[2]
Economic Contributions
Businesses founded by immigrants have been shown to contribute to employment growth, innovation, and international trade in their host economies. They establish businesses at higher rates than native-born populations across many developed economies,[3] and a 2024 report found that approximately 46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.[8] In high-technology sectors, immigrant-founded firms show higher rates of patenting, research activity, and product development.[9] Immigrant-owned firms also participate in international trade at higher rates than native-owned firms, a pattern associated with transnational networks and knowledge of foreign markets.[2] Self-employment whiich common to immigrants, can also serve as a pathway to economic integration, with earnings among self-employed immigrants tending to converge toward those of native-born entrepreneurs over time.[2]
Diaspora and networks
Diaspora communities provide an important organisational and networking context for immigrant entrepreneurship. Members often function as economic intermediaries, bridging home and host country networks through shared language, cultural knowledge, and transnational ties.[10] Co-ethnic networks can provide access to information, resources, customers, and business relationships, while shared trust and social ties can facilitate business formation..[6][7]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite encyclopedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Fairlie, Robert W.; Lofstrom, Magnus (2015). "Immigration and Entrepreneurship". Handbook of the Economics of International Migration. 1. Elsevier. pp. 877–911. doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-53768-3.00017-5. ISBN 978-0-444-63372-9. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9780444537683000175. Retrieved on 2026-08-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite report
- ↑ "Migrant entrepreneurship in OECD countries: International Migration Outlook 2024". 2024-11-14. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/international-migration-outlook-2024_50b0353e-en/full-report/migrant-entrepreneurship-in-oecd-countries_72f44494.html.
- ↑ Light, Ivan; Sabagh, Georges; Bozorgmehr, Mehdi; Der-Martirosian, Claudia (1994). "Beyond the Ethnic Enclave Economy". Social Problems 41 (1): 65–80. doi:10.2307/3096842. https://academic.oup.com/socpro/article-lookup/doi/10.2307/3096842. Retrieved on 2026-08-11.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Min, Pyong Gap; Bozorgmehr, Mehdi (2000). "Immigrant Entrepreneurship and Business Patterns: A Comparison of Koreans and Iranians in Los Angeles". International Migration Review 34 (3): 707. doi:10.2307/2675942. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2675942?origin=crossref. Retrieved on 2026-05-17.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Salehi, Ali (2026-02-02). "Understanding the Nature of Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Systematic Literature Review". Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies 13 (1): 276–308. doi:10.29333/ejecs/2252. ISSN 2149-1291. https://www.ejecs.org/index.php/JECS/article/view/2252. Retrieved on 2026-08-11.
- ↑ "Fortune 500 Companies Founded by Immigrants [2024"]. 2026-06-17. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/new-american-fortune-500-2024/.
- ↑ Template:Cite report
- ↑ Fang, Tony; Wells, Alex (2023). "Diaspora Economics". Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 1–23. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_105-1. ISBN 978-3-319-57365-6. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_105-1. Retrieved on 2026-08-11.
