Ethnic Concentration, Cultural Identity and Immigrant Self-Employment in Switzerland
MIGRATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT: NEW HORIZONS, pp. 147–71, P. Nijkamp, J. Poot, M. Sahin, eds., Edward Elgar, 2012
19 Pages Posted: 20 Feb 2012 Last revised: 1 Aug 2023
There are 2 versions of this paper
Ethnic Concentration, Cultural Identity and Immigrant Self-Employment in Switzerland
Ethnic Concentration, Cultural Identity and Immigrant Self-Employment in Switzerland
Date Written: February 19, 2012
Abstract
Immigrant self-employment rates vary considerably across regions in Switzerland. Business ownership seems to provide an alternative to wage labour, where immigrants have to face structural barriers such as the limited knowledge of the local language, or difficulties in fruitfully making use of their own human capital. Despite the historically high unemployment rates with respect to natives, immigrants in Switzerland are less entrepreneurial. It is therefore important to uncover the determinants that may facilitate the transition from the status of immigrant to the one of economic agent. Among others factors, concentration in ethnic enclaves, as well as accumulated labour market experience and time elapsed since immigration, have been associated to higher business ownership rates. In this paper we use a cross-section of 2,490 Swiss municipalities in order to investigate the role played by the ethnic concentration of immigrants, as well as cultural factors, in determining self-employment rates.
Keywords: self-employment, immigrants, Switzerland, ethnic concentration, cultural identity
JEL Classification: C21, J24, J61, O15, R23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation