Essays in entrepreneurship among foreign individuals

We study how countries of origin affect foreign individuals’ choice between salaried work and entrepreneurship upon arrival to the host country. Using a change in the Portuguese immigration law we evaluate the impact of reducing regulations on entrepreneurship upon the probability of foreign individuals choose entrepreneurship upon arrival. We find that foreigners from countries more dissimilar to the host country and those from wealthier countries are more likely engage in entrepreneurship upon arrival than those from similar countries. Foreigners from countries outside the European Economic Area, who have to fulfil requirements that are not required to those from countries within this area, are less likely to enter the labor market as entrepreneurs than those from countries within this area. According to our findings reducing legal requirements to foreign entrepreneurship may encourage foreigners to engage in entrepreneurship upon arrival, although such impact is not considerable.