Fairlie on Hispanic Business Ownership

UCLA Luskin Public Policy Chair and Professor Robert Fairlie was quoted in a ShareAmerica feature on the growing number of Hispanic and Latin American entrepreneurs in the United States and how their contributions are boosting the economy. The story cites research from Stanford Graduate School of Business’s “State of Latino Entrepreneurship” report published in March 2024 which showed a 57% increase in Hispanic entrepreneurship between 2007 and 2022, with about 5 million Latino-owned businesses contributing $800 billion to the U.S. economy. The story also cites U.S. Department of the Treasury data showing that almost a quarter of new entrepreneurs in the U.S. were Latino in 2021. Fairlie suggested that this increasing entrepreneurship is partially due to immigrants who start businesses at a higher rate than non-immigrants. “Immigrants take some initiative to leave [their countries of origin] and come to the U.S., and thus might be more risk-taking and entrepreneurial,” Fairlie said.