Then and Now: America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part VII

Details

Author(s):
  • Vivek Wadhwa
  • F. Daniel Siciliano
  • AnnaLee Saxenian
Publish Date:
October 2, 2012
Publication Title:
Kansas City, Mo.: Kauffman Foundation, 2012. Also Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 2159875 and Ewing Marian Kauffman Foundation Research Paper.
Format:
Book, Whole
Citation(s):
  • Vivek Wadhwa, AnnaLee Saxenian, F. Daniel Siciliano, Then and Now: America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs, Part VII, Kansas City, Mo.: Kauffman Foundation, 2012. Also Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 2159875 and Ewing Marian Kauffman Foundation Research Paper.
Related Organization(s):

Abstract

The period of unprecedented expansion of immigrant-led entrepreneurship that characterized the 1980s and 1990s has come to a close. Today, the growth rate of immigrant-founded companies nationwide, at 24.3 percent, has plateaued. In the high-tech hub of Silicon Valley, the proportion of immigrant-founded companies has dropped from 52.4 percent during 1995-2005 to 43.9 percent during 2006-2012.

Immigrant founders of engineering and technology companies have employed roughly 560,000 workers and generated an estimated $63 billion dollars in sales during this time. While the rate of growth of immigrant entrepreneurship has stagnated, these numbers nonetheless underscore the continuing importance of high-skilled immigrants to the maintenance and expansion of the national economy. These findings are interestingly complex, since the two major skilled-immigrant groups — Indian and Chinese — are starting companies at higher rates than they did previously. Historically and today, the United States continues to benefit directly from the contributions of such immigrants. Far from expendable, high-skilled immigrants will remain a critical asset for maintaining U.S. competitiveness in the global economy.