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Immigrant Self-Employment: Does Intermarriage Matter?

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  • Georgarakos, Dimitris

    (European Central Bank)

  • Tatsiramos, Konstantinos

    (University of Luxembourg, LISER)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Georgarakos, Dimitris & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2009. "Immigrant Self-Employment: Does Intermarriage Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 4350, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4350
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    Cited by:

    1. Delia Furtado & Stephen J. Trejo, 2013. "Interethnic marriages and their economic effects," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 15, pages 276-292, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Chunbei Wang & Le Wang, 2012. "The effects of 9/11 on intermarriage between natives and immigrants to the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 171-192, June.
    3. Furtado Delia & Theodoropoulos Nikolaos, 2010. "Why Does Intermarriage Increase Immigrant Employment? The Role of Networks," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-33, November.
    4. Olga Nottmeyer, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off?: A Panel Data Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1044, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. 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.
    6. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2011. "Couple's Relative Labor Supply in Intermarriage," IZA Discussion Papers 5567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Nottmeyer, Olga, 2010. "Does Intermarriage Pay Off? A Panel Data Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 5104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Olga Nottmeyer, 2014. "Relative labor supply in intermarriage," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Olga Nottmeyer, 2015. "Intermarriage and the economic success of immigrants," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 160-160, June.
    10. Liliana Sousa, 2013. "Community Determinants Of Immigrant Self-Employment: Human Capital Spillovers And Ethnic Enclaves," Working Papers 13-21, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    11. 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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    More about this item

    Keywords

    business ownership; migration; native spouse; social networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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