The Impact of Internal Displacement and External Migration on Institutional Trust

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 7 analyses distinctions between internally displaced versus externally displaced entrepreneurs. The chapter draws on a survey of internally displaced and external migrants, as well as in-depth interviews with returnee entrepreneurs, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The chapter shows that internal and external migrants have different levels of trust in home institutions, and that this is related to their exposure to institutional environments abroad. Those migrants who moved abroad are able to compare the home environment to the relative stability they experienced in their host country, meaning that perceptions will be more negative. Internal migrants are more philosophical about the institutional environment, accepting that it is weak and not expecting it to change either. The chapter also shows that individuals with more diverse ethnic networks, caused either by exposure to different groups abroad or by moving into and/or working with different groups at home, will have lower trust in institutions.