Refugee‐owned small businesses: A typology for blended value creation

Abstract

AbstractWhile it is clear that refugee‐owned small businesses generate economic value, what is less understood is small businesses' role in blended value generation for ethnic/co‐ethnic and local host communities. To explore this issue, we conducted interviews with 19 refugee business owners residing in New Zealand. Our findings concur with the extant literature that refugee‐owned businesses generate economic, social and cultural value in their adopted countries. However, these businesses can be differentiated by their value focus; that is, whether the business' sole focus is economic or a nuanced blend, where economic value is complemented by strong social and cultural outcomes. In addition, these businesses' blended value generation is concentrated in either ethnic/co‐ethnic or to local host communities. We use the findings to construct a typology of value generated by refugee‐owned businesses, based on two continuums: from economic value to blended value and from ethnic/co‐ethnic focus to local host focus.