The Impact of Immigrant Entrepreneurship on Regional Development in Western Sweden

• This paper discusses how immigrant entrepreneurship impacts regional development. Three towns in Western Sweden are analysed,using unique data on company start-ups at a local level. The findings suggest that immigrant entrepreneurs are overrepresented in the start-ups of labour intensive and low productive businessesin the service sector. Such entrepreneurship does not promoteregional development, but it may get the entrepreneur out of thereliance onwelfare schemes and meet theirbills. Resultantly, the region appears to be caught in a vicious circle of underdevelopment, whereincompanies started by immigrant entrepreneurs experience a limited market expansion, and this leads to low savings,low consumption, reduced stock of capital in the economy,and low income.Thispaper offers important insights on how theory and results that stem from an aggregate national level may differ when entrepreneurship is analysed at a local level. It concludes that what works well and promotes regional development in metropolitan areas may lead to completely different outcomes in smaller towns in decaying industrial regions.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

entrepren eurship

immigrants

unemployment

labour market

regional development

Complex Systems – Microdata Analysis

Komplexa system - mikrodataanalys

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)