Historically, the U.S. has attracted many foreign-born entrepreneurs who want to start their businesses here because of our open markets, generally favorable financial policies and comparatively hands-off government.
But a study published earlier this week has found that the rate of startup businesses founded by people who were born outside of the U.S. has dropped after years of increasing.
Why does that matter to us here in Orlando? It matters because many economic experts believe that new and young businesses are the real engines of our economy in terms of creating jobs, creating markets for products and services and generating tax revenue.
The study, which was commissioned by the Kauffman Foundation, found that the percentage of new companies founded by people born outside the U.S. declined over the past six years from 25.3 percent to 24.3 percent.
Although that is only a drop of 1 percent, it's still important because up until recently, the rate had been growing.
Although there are certainly many factors at work here, as there are in nearly all economic situations, experts think that immigration laws may be limiting the ability of educated, ambitious would-be entrepreneurs to come here in the first place or else stay here once they arrive.
Now, immigration is a divisive issue, especially here in Florida. If we take away all of the other elements to it, though, the issue of whether we are losing talent and energy and thus allowing our competitive edge to dull is one we ought to pay attention to. We are not taking a position either way with regard to U.S. immigration policy, but maintaining our economic health and global competitiveness should matter to everyone.
Source: The Washington Post, "Decline in immigrant entrepreneurship threatens U.S. competitiveness," J.D. Harrison, Oct. 2, 2012
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