Rose Cantine

Researchers at Duke University estimate that 25 percent of tech companies started between 1995 and 2005 had at least one senior executive born outside the US, and most are in California:

AnnaLee Saxenian, now dean of the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, estimated immigrants founded about 25 percent of Silicon Valley tech companies in 1999. The Duke study found the percentage had more than doubled, to 52 percent in 2005. California led the nation, with foreign-born entrepreneurs founding 39 percent of startups, even though they make up only 25 percent of the state’s population . . . Saxenian, also co-author of the new study, said the research debunks the notion that immigrants who come to the United States take jobs from Americans.

This isn’t surprising given that many of the entrepreneurs came to the US to study at Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. Even those who went to MIT gravitate to Silicon Valley because of the concentration of other tech people and funding sources (VCs).

There are cultural factors at work too: people like to settle in places where there are large ethnic communities. You can eat the food you are used to, watch the movies you like from home, etc. I love staying in SF because I can always find very good Filipino food, which I miss in Amsterdam (there’s none here).

Immigrants do take jobs away from locals — in certain sectors

As for the statement “immigrants don’t take jobs away from Americans”, I think it’s only partly true. Immigrants do take jobs away from certain people — it depends what you do. People who have advanced degrees in certain disciplines can probably find a job within a short period of time if their boss replaces them with someone from India. So although a job is taken away, there’s always another job available for that displaced employee.

Those who learn quickly, are entrepreneurial and risk-taking by nature probably don’t give a damn one way or the other. They’d set up new companies whether or not their country is accepting a lot of immigrants.

And it depends where you live. In Europe (except the UK), where the economies barely grow, immigrants do take jobs away especially at the lower wage levels where a lot of newcomers work “under the table”. Anecdotal evidence also shows that the presence of large numbers of people who are willing to work for less, puts a cap on wage increases.

Where it’s difficult and expensive to fire people (most European countries), employers just don’t hire permanent staff. They prefer to use temps or hire “under the table” — very favorable for immigrants willing to work for less, not so favorable for locals who are used to permanent contracts with pension and health care plans, 35 days of holiday and other perks. The result: high official unemployment (Europe always hovers around 10%), lots of people receiving public assistance, low growth, less dynamism — pushing those who are ambitious and entrepreneurial to go to countries like the US.

So it’s not surprising that many Europeans are anti-immigrant despite their politicians’ insistence that immigration is good for everyone. That’s just not true. Immigration benefits certain types of people: those who want to pay less for lawn maintenance, car washing and household repair; employers in the service industries; and the immigrants themselves.