SI seminar with José Mata

We study how foreignness influences the transitions of immigrants from salaried work to entrepreneurship. Immigrants are more likely than natives to switch to entrepreneurship, but they also have a higher opportunity cost of entrepreneurship, as measured by wages in their previous job. Holding a job is more valuable to immigrants than it is for natives and higher wages decrease immigrants’ transitions to entrepreneurship while the opposite happens for natives. Immigrants from different countries have different patterns of switching into entrepreneurship.  Those from institutionally distant countries switch more into entrepreneurship than those from closer countries, but they are also subject to a higher detrimental effect of wages upon such transitions.

The seminar takes place in Kilen 2.53 and is open to all.