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Immigrant Self-Employment: Does Intermarriage Matter?

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Author Info

  • Georgarakos, Dimitris

    () (Goethe University Frankfurt)

  • Tatsiramos, Konstantinos

    () (University of Leicester)

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of a native spouse on the transitions into and out of entrepreneurship of male immigrants in the U.S. We find that those married to a native are less likely to start up a business compared to those married to an immigrant. This finding is robust when the endogeneity of being married to a native is taken into account. We also show that immigrants married to a native are significantly less likely to exit from entrepreneurship compared to their counterparts who are married to an immigrant. Our results point to an interesting asymmetric role of being intermarried in deciding to become an entrepreneur and for survival in entrepreneurship, which is consistent with a network effect. On the one hand, intermarriage reduces the chance of starting up a business possibly because better access to local networks can help transitions into other forms of employment (e.g. paid employment). On the other hand, superior access to local networks through marriage to a native spouse facilitates business survival.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 4350.

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Length: 26 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2009
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Research in Labor Economics, 2009, 29, 253-271
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4350

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Related research

Keywords: business ownership; migration; native spouse; social networks;

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References

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  1. Edin, Per-Anders & Fredriksson, Peter & Åslund, Olof, 2000. "Ethnic enclaves and the economic success of immigrants - evidence from a natural experiment," Working Paper Series 2000:9, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
  2. Heckman, James & Singer, Burton, 1984. "A Method for Minimizing the Impact of Distributional Assumptions in Econometric Models for Duration Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 271-320, March.
  3. Georgarakos, Dimitris & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2009. "Entrepreneurship and survival dynamics of immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 161-170, April.
  4. Calvo-Armengol, Antoni & Jackson, Matthew O., 2007. "Networks in labor markets: Wage and employment dynamics and inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 27-46, January.
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  6. Robert W. Fairlie & Bruce D. Meyer, 1996. "Ethnic and Racial Self-Employment Differences and Possible Explanations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(4), pages 757-793.
  7. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "Intermarriage and Immigrant Employment: The Role of Networks," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 3-2009, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
  8. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Ethnicity, Neighborhoods, and Human-Capital Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 365-90, June.
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  12. Patel, Krishna & Vella, Francis, 2007. "Immigrant Networks and Their Implications for Occupational Choice and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 3217, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  13. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Hildebrand, Vincent A., 2002. "The Wealth and Asset Holdings of U.S.- Born and Foreign-Born Households: Evidence from SIPP Data," IZA Discussion Papers 674, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  14. Blau, David M & Robins, Philip K, 1990. "Job Search Outcomes for the Employed and Unemployed," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(3), pages 637-55, June.
  15. Kaivan Munshi, 2003. "Networks In The Modern Economy: Mexican Migrants In The U.S. Labor Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 118(2), pages 549-599, May.
  16. Yannis M. Ioannides & Linda Datcher Loury, 2004. "Job Information Networks, Neighborhood Effects, and Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1056-1093, December.
  17. Lori A. Beaman, 2012. "Social Networks and the Dynamics of Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Refugees Resettled in the U.S," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 79(1), pages 128-161.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Delia Furtado & Stephen Trejo, 2012. "Interethnic Marriages and their Economic Effects," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1205, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
  2. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1044, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  3. Delia Furtado & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2009. "Intermarriage and Immigrant Employment: The Role of Networks," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 0906, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
  4. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2011. "Couple's Relative Labor Supply in Intermarriage," IZA Discussion Papers 5567, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off? A Panel Data Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 5104, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 314, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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