What's Behind the Numbers? allows authors to provide additional insight and an explanation into how they arrive at their conclusions. It consists of the data files, calculations, and other materials that inform the analysis but do not traditionally fit into an op-ed.
This is the statistical backup for the statements Edward P. Lazear made in the July 31, 2018 The Wall Street Journal op-ed “Send Us Your Young, Your Educated."
Immigrants are about 20% more entrepreneurial than are native born Americans:
The most entrepreneurial immigrants in the US come from Israel, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Greece. Over 9% of the immigrants from these countries is the current founder of an incorporated business in the US, an proportion that is over three times that of native-born Americans.
Immigrants from Mexico found about 1 1/2 times as many businesses as runner-up India and almost ten times as many as immigrants from Israel. Although Israelis are highly entrepreneurial on a per-capita basis, immigrants from Mexico account for the largest share of immigrants in the US and are about 10 times as numerous as Israelis.
A a college graduate is 38% more likely to found a business than a high school graduate.
Entrepreneurs with only a high school education report annual earnings that are less than half that of entrepreneurs with college or more.
Someone who arrives before age 20 is over 33 percent more likely to found a business than someone who arrives after age 35.
Finally, immigrants from countries that are under-represented among our immigrant population relative to their share of world population have about 60% higher entrepreneurship rates than those from over-represented countries. When we admit few immigrants from a particular country, we tend to get the highest achievers and that carries over to entrepreneurship.
