Ethnic Concentration, Cultural Identity and Immigrant Self-Employment in Switzerland

Guerra, Giuliano ; Patuelli, Roberto ; Maggi, Rico (2012) Ethnic Concentration, Cultural Identity and Immigrant Self-Employment in Switzerland. Bologna: Dipartimento di Scienze economiche DSE, p. 21. DOI 10.6092/unibo/amsacta/4210. In: Quaderni - Working Paper DSE (808). ISSN 2282-6483.
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Abstract

Immigrant self-employment rates vary considerably across regions in Switzerland. Business ownership provides 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 their historically high unemployment rates with respect to natives, immigrants in Switzerland are less entrepreneurial. It is therefore important to uncover factors 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.

Abstract
Document type
Monograph (Working Paper)
Creators
CreatorsAffiliationORCID
Guerra, Giuliano
Patuelli, Roberto
Maggi, Rico
Keywords
self-employment, immigrants, Switzerland
Subjects
ISSN
2282-6483
DOI
Deposit date
30 Mar 2015 13:16
Last modified
31 Mar 2015 13:46
URI

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