Dr. Mahesh Somashekhar publishes article titled, “The Business Ownership Patterns of Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: An Exploratory Study”
Dr. Mahesh Somashekhar has published a new article in Social Currents titled, "The Business Ownership Patterns of Undocumented Immigrants in the United States: An Exploratory Study." In this article, Dr. Somashekhar examines undocumented immigrants in the economy. Using instrumental variables regressions, it is revealed that undocumented immigrants had a lower likelihood of owning a business than documented immigrants, but undocumented and documented business owners derived similar incomes from their businesses. A lack of legal status may hold back potential entrepreneurs. MCA (Mexican and Central American immigrants) business owners of both legal statuses clustered into similar low-paying, low-growth industries, however, so regardless of legal status, there are likely limits to how much business ownership can promote economic mobility among MCAs. All told, scholars should do more to acknowledge the existence of undocumented immigrant business owners, measure their impact on the economy, and examine their influence on immigrant incorporation patterns.