New Entrepreneurship in Urban Diasporas in our Modern World

Abstract

Entrepreneurship among migrants – often called new, migrant or ethnic entrepreneurship – has over the past years become a significant component of the urban economy in many developed countries. Migrant entrepreneurship has a considerable welfare enhancing impact on the city, notably a contribution to innovation and growth, creation of new jobs for less favoured population groups, advancement of benefits from cultural diversity, and reinforcement of economic opportunities related to international connectivity. The present paper aims to investigate the backgrounds of migrant entrepreneurship in large Dutch cities, in particular, the critical success factors of business performance of these entrepreneurs in relation to their ethnic background, their levels of skill, and other specific and general contextual factors. To address the drivers of break-out strategies for new markets, a sample of second-generation Moroccan entrepreneurs is extensively interviewed to extract detailed information at a micro business level. The wealth of qualitative information on both input factors and output (performance) achievements is next systematically coded in a qualitative survey table which is converted into a format that is suitable for application of a rough set analysis. This is an artificial intelligence technique that is able to extract and identify the set of combinations of different drivers that altogether make up for a final outcome. The results show that longer stay in the host country, male gender, family network support and education of the entrepreneurs concerned are critical variables for the business performance of these urban diaspora entrepreneurs.