Liabilities of Foreignness and Outsidership in the Evolution of Immigrant Chinese Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This chapter investigates how the immigrant Chinese companies evolve and face their liability of foreignness and liability of outsidership (concepts borrowed from the international business field) in the industrial district of Prato. The chapter adopts the perspective of the Chinese companies, investigating how those companies overcame their liabilities as they evolved within the industrial district. The immigrant Chinese companies in Prato evolved from an initial subcontractor level to become final firms engaged in diversification; this chapter analyzes the evolution in relation to the local native and immigrant communities. The industrial areas of Prato where the native and immigrant entrepreneurs coexist can generate liabilities. The immigrant Chinese entrepreneurs are insiders to their relevant global networks; however, they can experience a liability of outsidership in the local networks of the native entrepreneurs. Further, the native entrepreneurs may themselves face a liability of outsidership in the global networks in which the immigrant entrepreneurs are embedded.