Immigrant Entrepreneurship in New England

This report documents findings on immigrant entrepreneurship in New England, where immigrants, except in the state of Vermont, are more likely than the U.S. born to own a business. The likelihood is more pronounced in the region’s more populous states, which have higher proportions of immigrants. Immigrant entrepreneurs tend to enter industries that are different from those that U.S.-born entrepreneurs enter. Overall, the ratio of immigrant to U.S.-born entrepreneurs in different industries correlates with state-level differences in both population density and proportion of immigrants. The report documents differences in average educational attainment between immigrant and U.S.-born entrepreneurs. In populous states with high proportions of immigrants, U.S.-born entrepreneurs are more educated than immigrant entrepreneurs; in less-populous states with relatively low proportions of immigrants, the opposite is true. Finally, the report documents state-level differences in the impact immigrant entrepreneurs have on the economy. To list one prominent example, immigrants in New England are disproportionately represented among the heads of Fortune 500 companies. This suggests immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs and value to a greater degree than U.S.-born entrepreneurs. The findings of this study prompt several policy recommendations. These include lowering costs associated with incorporating and hiring employees, as well as taking advantage of the ability of universities to sponsor cap-exempt H-1B visas for foreign-born entrepreneurs.