Self-Employed Immigrants in Denmark and Sweden: A Way to Economic Self-Reliance?

24 Pages Posted: 11 May 2004

See all articles by Pernilla Andersson

Pernilla Andersson

Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI)

Eskil Wadensjo

Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI); IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies (SULCIS)

Date Written: April 2004

Abstract

Immigrants have a weak position in the labour market in most European countries. Many have difficulties in establishing themselves in the labour market, the employment rate is low and the hourly wages are generally lower than what could be expected from characteristics (age, gender, education). Many have to rely on the social transfer payments including social assistance. One way to avoid the problems in getting a job is to become self-employed. In this paper we make use of two large data-sets to study self-employment among immigrants in Denmark and Sweden. The three main issues covered are 1) if the immigrants are overrepresented among the self-employed, 2) the characteristics of self-employed immigrants, and 3) the incomes of the self-employed immigrants. In each case we compare the situation in the two countries. The immigrants, especially immigrants from non-Western countries, are overrepresented among the self-employed in both countries. The self-employed immigrants in both countries have relatively low incomes, lower than natives with the corresponding characteristics.

Keywords: Immigrant workers, self-employment

JEL Classification: J15, J23, J61

Suggested Citation

Andersson, Pernilla and Wadensjo, Eskil, Self-Employed Immigrants in Denmark and Sweden: A Way to Economic Self-Reliance? (April 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=542822 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.542822

Pernilla Andersson

Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) ( email )

Kyrkgatan 43B
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden

Eskil Wadensjo (Contact Author)

Stockholm University - Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) ( email )

Universitetsvägen 10F
SE-106 91 Stockholm
Sweden

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies (SULCIS) ( email )

SE-106 91 Stockholm
Stockholm
Sweden

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