A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, Immigrant Entrepreneurship: New Estimates and a Research Agenda provides fresh insights into the growth and characteristics of immigrant-founded firms across the United States. The study also outlines directions for future research in this field.

Key findings from the authors’ statistical analysis include:

• In a sample of 25 states, immigrants’ representation among top earners in new firms rose from 22.5% in 2003 to 28.9% in 2020.
• Nearly two-thirds of this growth came from a general rise in immigrant entrepreneurship across all regions in the sample rather than concentrated booms in specific states.
• The overall share of immigrant entrepreneurship increased from 18.7% in 2007 to 24.2% in 2019.