Immigrant entrepreneurs, diasporas, and exports. (4th July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bratti, Massimiliano; De Benedictis, Luca; Santoni, Gianluca
• Is Part Of: Journal of regional science. Volume 60:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 249
• Page End: 272
• Publication Date: 2019-07-04
• Subjects: exports -- gravity model -- immigrant entrepreneurs -- Italy; Economics -- Research -- Periodicals; Regional planning -- Periodicals; 330.072
• DOI: 10.1111/jors.12455
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-4146

Abstract

Abstract: This paper demonstrates the positive effect of immigrant entrepreneurs on manufacturing exports over and above that of diasporas. Using small‐scale regional administrative data, our instrumental variable estimates of export gravity models imply that ceteris paribus, that is, holding constant the total number of immigrants, the expected protrade effect of a migrant becoming an entrepreneur amounts to an average increase of US$5, 946 in the export flows toward her country of origin. Besides these dyadic effects, immigrant entrepreneurs unlike nonentrepreneurial immigrants raise a region's overall competitiveness and export flows toward other destinations as well.