Start-Up and Success in Ethnic New Ventures

Abstract

Three research questions concerning immigrants were addressed: 1) Are significantly different rates of business start-up connected with very high or low personal and social investments? 2) Do the returns on such investments by the self-employed differ significantly from other immigrants with very low and high investments, and from the average of all immigrants? 3) What types of human and social investment activities are significantly associated with the creation of human and social capital? The responses of 7129 Canadian immigrants indicated that higher rates of self-employment and personal income were found in those very high in human and social investments. However, self-employment was significantly less common for respondents very low in personal and social investments, and no differences exist for the few who balanced low personal investments with more social investments. Investments in education (by respondent and spouse) positively impacted personal income. Yet, surprisingly, social investments in ethnic and sports organizations were the only types favorably associated with income.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

JEL Classification: M13