PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

This paper examines the effect of social embeddedness on migrants' self-employment in Germany using data from the 2004 microcensus. In many receiving countries, self-employment is an important mode of economic integration. Yet, in Germany the level of entrepreneurial activities among immigrants has been comparably low. Since the end of the 1990ies, however, self-employment rates among immigrants have been rising. Using the pseudo-panel structure of the microcensus, our analysis focuses on transitions into and Out of self-employment. Using the "mixed embeddedness" concept as a theoretical frame, we analyze how an actor's embeddeness in the neighborhood and the household influences the transition process. Our analysis shows that ecological conditions do indeed significantly affect the founding and Survival chance!; of immigrant businesses. In particular, within wealthy neighborhoods with a high concentration of immigrants, we find a high turnover of businesses With many launchings and cessations. Furthermore, the neighborhood', economic activity increases the frequency of business launching and decreases business cessation