Chinese entrepreneurs and workers at the crossroad: the role of social networks in ethnic industrial clusters in Italy

Mario Biggeri,Lisa Braito,Huanhuai Zhou,Annalisa Caloffi

doi:10.1108/ijm-04-2021-0232

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the evolution of Chinese industrial ethnic clusters in Italy, by focusing on the role of social networks and the processes behind the phenomenon of Chinese worker exploitation and entrepreneur “self-exploitation”.Design/methodology/approachThe case study is a sub-cluster of micro and small enterprises owned by Chinese entrepreneurs within the leather industrial district of Florence, Italy. This research adopts the following mixed methods: a small-scale survey to capture the characteristics of the sub-cluster and a social network analysis to describe cluster evolution, complemented by life-course interviews conducted with key informants and entrepreneurs.FindingsMigrant social capital and social networks play a central role in the evolution of the case study sub-cluster. Social networks play a supportive role in migration, job creation, entrepreneurship formation and the creation of business opportunities. Simultaneously, they enhance the phenomenon of worker exploitation and entrepreneur self-exploitation. Furthermore, the more the business community grows, the more the economic performance of ethnic enterprises depends on agglomeration forces produced by the cluster.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest a series of potential policies to upgrade the ethnic enterprises' capacities, to increase their formality and inclusion in the Italian social and economic systems and sub-cluster.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to examine the evolution of social networks in relation to the phenomenon of Chinese worker exploitation and entrepreneur self-exploitation in an ethnic industrial sub-cluster.

Highlights

In the literature on entrepreneurship and ethnic entrepreneurship, social networks both open opportunities allowing access to resources facilitating entrepreneurial activity (Yang et al., 2012; Portes and Martinez, 2020) and restrain entrepreneurs restricting access to and spill over of knowledge and technology and inducing labour exploitation (Rahman et al, 2018).In other words, “the community is simultaneously nurturing and confining” (Jones et al, 2014, p. 503)
This paper aims to analyse the evolution of Chinese migrant entrepreneurship in the context of industrial cluster in Italy, by focusing on the role of social networks and the phenomenon of exploitation and “self-exploitation” [2]
According to the ethnic entrepreneurship literature (Portes, 1995; Deakins et al, 2007; Wang and Altinay, 2012; Zolin et al, 2016), migrants form tight social networks with fellow nationals, which are grounded in an ethnic-based social capital composed of common language, culture, religion, conventions and customs, kinship relationships or personal knowledge, trust and common understanding

Summary

Introduction

In the literature on entrepreneurship and ethnic entrepreneurship, social networks both open opportunities allowing access to resources facilitating entrepreneurial activity (Yang et al., 2012; Portes and Martinez, 2020) and restrain entrepreneurs restricting access to and spill over of knowledge and technology and inducing labour exploitation (Rahman et al, 2018).In other words, “the community is simultaneously nurturing and confining” (Jones et al, 2014, p. 503). In the literature on entrepreneurship and ethnic entrepreneurship, social networks both open opportunities allowing access to resources facilitating entrepreneurial activity (Yang et al., 2012; Portes and Martinez, 2020) and restrain entrepreneurs restricting access to and spill over of knowledge and technology and inducing labour exploitation (Rahman et al, 2018). This paper aims to analyse the evolution of Chinese migrant entrepreneurship in the context of industrial cluster in Italy, by focusing on the role of social networks and the phenomenon of exploitation and “self-exploitation” [2]. Social networks based on the sharing of the same social capital can help to identify business opportunities and to increase social reputation, which are both vehicles to access capital as well as cheap co-ethnic labour (Portes and Martinez, 2020)

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Conclusion