Publications

Given the anticipated negative impact of Brexit on the U.K. economy, it might be expected that self-employed individuals would have favoured remaining in the European Union. However, the self-employed are also more likely to have certain demographic characteristics that are associated with voting leave in the 2016 referendum. We investigate such potentially offsetting influences using…

Self-employment constitutes a vital part of the economy since entrepreneurs can provide employment not only for themselves but also for others. The link between self-employment and immigration is, however, complex, especially given the changing nature of self-employment. We investigate the evolving relationship between self-employment and immigration using recently released microdata from the 2011 Census for…

This article examines trends in entrepreneurship among minority ethnic groups in Britain. It begins with an analysis of how self-employment rates for different ethnic groups have evolved since the early 1990s. We find that rates of self-employment have fallen for Indians and the Chinese and argue that this is due to increased opportunities in paid…

The UK experienced has unprecedented levels of immigration in the last decade. These inflows were particularly pronounced following EU enlargement in May 2004, since when the UK has received a huge influx of migrants from Central and Eastern Europe. Although existing studies have suggested that the impact of these migration flows on the UK labour…

This paper focuses on two issues, firstly the extent to which the employment position of the main ethnic minority groups in England and Wales changed between 1991 and 2001 and secondly, a detailed examination of employment rates amongst ethnic groups in 2001. Relative to Whites, the employment position of most ethnic minority groups improved over…

The over-representation of certain ethnic minority and immigrant groups in self-employment is, in common with other developed countries, a notable feature of the UK labour market. Compared to the substantial growth in self-employment in the 1980s, the 1990s saw overall self-employment rates plateau. Despite this, some minority groups experienced continued growth whilst others, particularly Chinese…