High-Tech Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the United States

• Published in: Economic development quarterly Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 116 - 129
• Main Authors: Hart, David M., Acs, Zoltan J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2011; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Business management; Companies; Development policy; Economic activity; Economic development; Economics; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Foreign born citizens; Founders; Founding; High technology; Immigrants; Immigration; Immigration policy; Multivariate analysis; Noncitizens; Polls & surveys; Public policy; Statistics; Survey data; Surveys; Teams; Technology; U.S.A; United States; United States > US; USA; high technology; immigration; entrepreneurship; United States; public policy
• ISSN: 0891-2424; 1552-3543
• DOI: 10.1177/0891242410394336

This article reports the results of a national survey that estimates the rate of immigrant entrepreneurship in a representative sample of high-impact firms in high-technology industries in the United States. The authors report key descriptive statistics about the companies and their founders. About 16% of the companies in the sample, for instance, number at least one immigrant entrepreneur among their founding teams, while about 77% of the immigrant entrepreneurs are U.S. citizens. Three multivariate analyses are carried out that compare high-impact, high-tech firms that count at least one immigrant in their founding teams with those that were founded by native-born entrepreneurs. It is found that the two groups of firms are similar with respect to economic and technological performance. Immigrant-founded firms are more likely to report that they have a strategic relationship with a foreign firm. The authors conclude by briefly considering the potential implications of their findings for immigration and economic development policy.