Migrant Entrepreneurs Research Articles

Developing entrepreneurial opportunities through multi-layered liabilities: the experiences of female migrant entrepreneurs

Developing entrepreneurial opportunities through multi-layered liabilities: the experiences of female migrant entrepreneurs

Revealing the power of informal social support: Impact on rural migrants' entrepreneurial income

AbstractEntrepreneurship is a typical socially embedded activity and informal social support reflects the functional manifestation of unique social relationships among rural migrants. Given the limited attention in existing research, we employed data from the nationally representative China Labor‐force Dynamics Survey to investigate the impact and mechanism of informal social support on rural migrants' entrepreneurial income. We found that informal social support and its sub‐dimensions (instrumental and emotional support) significantly positively affect rural migrants' entrepreneurial income. A series of endogeneity and robustness tests substantiate this conclusion. Mechanism analysis suggests that these effects occur through the enhancement of entrepreneurial passion and mental health. Furthermore, using a cutting‐edge machine learning method (generalised random forests) to determine the basis for variable selection in heterogeneity testing, the results reveal that industry and age have the highest importance. Subsequent analysis shows that the above effects were more significant among rural migrant entrepreneurs in labour‐intensive industries and the younger generation. Finally, the theoretical and practical significance of this study has been discussed.

First-generation Korean food entrepreneurship: strategies of living with (ethnic) difference in the city

ABSTRACT Based on semi-structured interviews and ethnographic market analysis online and on-site, this study explores strategies of ethnic food entrepreneurship by first-generation Korean migrants in London. The focus is on how urban difference is translated through entrepreneurship into concrete everyday interactions across urban divides, as migrant entrepreneurs engage with urban economies, societies and regulatory frameworks through their enterprises. This empirical focus is driven by an interest in the application of the notion of conviviality as a lens to understand urban interactions of living with difference. We thus deliberately depart from assimilationist and groupist precepts as imposed by the “migrant integration” agenda or multiculturalist approaches ignoring persistent hierarchies of difference. Our contribution is in providing empirical insight into living with difference in the city through the exploration of how difference is translated through the entrepreneurship of a conspicuous and often racialised group of migrant entrepreneurs.

Female and Migrant Entrepreneurship in SOS Children’s Villages in the Lambayeque Region, Peru

This quantitative research analyzes the entrepreneurial competencies of in-migrant women in the Children’s Village of the Lambayeque Region. With a sample of 79 women, 39 Peruvian and 40 Venezuelan, online surveys and observation forms were operated for 18 months (2021–2022). Using a Likert scale of 55 questions and nine dimensions, competencies such as opportunity seeking, risk anticipation, persistence, self-exertion, and more were assessed. Data were analyzed using correlations, ANOVA, logistic regression, and principal component analysis (PCA). The results revealed significant differences between nationalities, with Venezuelan women having higher competencies. The study identified two principal components that explain 57.663% of the total variance, representing initiative and quality, as well as control and responsibility. These findings suggest the need for specific training programs to strengthen the entrepreneurial competencies of these women. The inductive methodology and quantitative analysis provided a clear vision of entrepreneurial competencies, contributing to the improvement of support and training programs.

From Bonds to Bridges: Exploring Social Capital's Role on Migrant Entrepreneurs' Identity Construction

This paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by illustrating the significance of social capital in shaping the identity of migrant entrepreneurs throughout various stages of the entrepreneurial process. The novelty of this research lies in highlighting the adaptability of the social capital role in constructing the migrant entrepreneurs’ identities, enabling them to overcome challenges encountered in emerging contexts. By employing a thematic-content analysis method strengthened by narratives, we gain a comprehensive understanding of how migrant entrepreneurs interpret and enact their social capital in constructing their entrepreneurial identities. Our results reveal that EI construction is a dynamic process that ME navigate through the strategic use of SC. This involves the cultivation of both bonding and bridging social networks that provide crucial resources, emotional support, and access to diverse opportunities. Our results highlight that ME are engaged in a complex process of identity negotiation, where they must balance the preservation of their origin's cultural identity with the necessity to adapt to the entrepreneurial identity valued in the host country. This process involves a sophisticated interplay of adopting, adapting, and sometimes resisting the norms and expectations that define the entrepreneurial landscape they are operating within.

Exploring the interplay of migrant entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence and social integration of marriage migrant women in South Korea

This research explores the role of entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence in the social integration of female marriage migrants who are entrepreneurs in South Korea. A qualitative research design was employed to gather data from 32 female marriage migrant entrepreneurs in South Korea through snowball sampling. The main findings revealed that they encountered enormous challenges at various stages of their entrepreneurship, but emotional intelligence played an essential role in their business success. This study demonstrates that entrepreneurship, with the help of emotional intelligence, enables marriage migrants to integrate socially into the host country. This research examines a unique aspect of migrants as it captures hidden realities, and presents implications and future directions for many stakeholders. The findings of this research can serve as a reference to help resolve the problems of migrant entrepreneurs and integration issues of migrant women in similar contexts.

What does Italianness stand for? The use of ethnic resources among Italian migrant entrepreneurs in Brussels

Research on migrant entrepreneurship has extensively focused on the ethnic dimension of these economic activities, especially entrepreneurs’ use of ethnic resources. Many scholars have tended to reify ethnicity and overlook migrant entrepreneurs’ ability to define and use ethnic resources. Adopting a dynamic perspective that acknowledges in-group diversity and entrepreneurs’ agency in utilizing these ethnic resources, we examine how Italian migrant entrepreneurs in Brussels conceive their relationship with the Italian community and leverage their ethnicity (Italianness/Italianità, i.e., the fact of being Italian). We find in-group variation, challenging reifying and deterministic analyses of “ethnic” entrepreneurship. Instead, ethnicity emerges as a resource that entrepreneurs mobilize to distinguish themselves socially and entrepreneurially from other Italians.

Unveiling Success Factors: Nepalese Migrant Entrepreneurship in South Korea’s Service Sectors Through the Lens of Migrant Entrepreneurship Theory Perspectives

Unveiling Success Factors: Nepalese Migrant Entrepreneurship in South Korea’s Service Sectors Through the Lens of Migrant Entrepreneurship Theory Perspectives

International Migrant Entrepreneurship: Review and Future Directions

International Migrant Entrepreneurship: Review and Future Directions

The Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Narrative in the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Migrant Workers’ Entrepreneurial Legitimacy from a Green Entrepreneurship Perspective

Globally, environmental regulatory pressures are mounting, eliciting concern for their effects on migrant workers who return home to found businesses. These entrepreneurial migrants contribute to rural economic growth and urbanization, yet concurrently confront the challenge of stringent environmental rules. The study aims to dissect the environmental regulatory pressure’s influence on the legitimacy of these entrepreneurial migrants and the underlying mechanisms. It further investigates the role of a green entrepreneurial orientation as a mediator and the moderating influence of entrepreneurial narratives on this relationship. Utilizing quantitative research methodologies, the analysis is grounded in extensive, firsthand data from an empirical study of migrant entrepreneurs. The findings corroborate a direct link between environmental regulatory pressure and the legitimacy of migrant entrepreneurs while highlighting the mitigating impact of green orientation and the moderating role of narratives. Specifically, environmental regulatory pressure significantly enhances the legitimacy of migrant entrepreneurs. Green entrepreneurial orientation buffers this impact, while entrepreneurial narratives moderate the relationship. This research offers a novel theoretical framework for comprehending the legitimacy dynamics of migrant entrepreneurs amidst environmental regulation and provides actionable guidance for these entrepreneurs to pursue green entrepreneurship in compliance with regulatory demands.

Factors and challenges influencing female migrant entrepreneurship: An empirical study in India

Factors and challenges influencing female migrant entrepreneurship: An empirical study in India

Migrant Employment: A Blessing in Disguise from the ‘Unseen’?

Migrant workers are hired mainly to fill the demand in dirty, dangerous, and demeaning (3D) jobs in Malaysia. However, the transformation of temporary migrants into entrepreneurs while in migration, resulted in migrants’ entrepreneurship registration conundrum because they were only allowed to register for companies with private limited by shares. Currently, business registration as sole proprietors, enterprises, and limited liability partnerships are restricted to Malaysian citizens only. During the pandemic, it was observed that migrants faced heightened difficulties with marginalization and discrimination. Social media comments were captured to observe public perception towards migrants’ entrepreneurship in COVID-19 environment. A netnography analysis was conducted on eight official government agencies' Facebook pages, where 218 Facebook posts related to migrants’ entrepreneurship were observed for data collection to conduct thematic analysis. Common themes captured in the comments related to COVID-19 shaped public opinions on the topic. It was revealed that Malaysian public felt that something good resulted from COVID-19 when more enforcement measures were done during the pandemic to mitigate migrants’ enterprises. Based on thematic analysis of the comments, users criticized the lack of actions from the authorities in the past and that COVID-19 resulted in more enforcement measures due to the perceptions that migrants are responsible in spreading disease. The public has also supported such actions taken by the authority as it is seen as an opportunity to create more openings for locals to be involved in businesses especially for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Keywords: Migrant entrepreneurship, COVID-19, migrant marginalization, netnography, Facebook.

Social capital and internal migrant entrepreneurship: Evidence from urban China

The increasing flow of interregional migration can lead to the reconstruction of social capital. Unlike international migrants who tend to engage in enclave entrepreneurship, internal migrants are dispersed in host regions and experience the dual dynamic of alienation from their original social networks as well as integration into new societies. Using data collected from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), we examine different dimensions of social capital and their effects on migrant entrepreneurship. The results demonstrate that both enclave relationships from preexisting networks and the local identity newly established in host cities have a significant positive effect on migrant entrepreneurial activities. By distinguishing self-employment from entrepreneurial activities, the two dimensions of social capital exert significant influence on employer-based entrepreneurial activities, while local identity fails to promote the impact on urban migrants. Our study calls for a nuanced and situatedness understanding of social capital and migrant entrepreneurship.

Migrant entrepreneur: Strategic approaches to overcoming liminality

Migrant entrepreneur: Strategic approaches to overcoming liminality

Policy Challenges and Opportunities: Migrant Female Entrepreneurs in Northern Europe

The article examines the profound influence of public policies on female migrant entrepreneurship, emphasizing their impact at both local and global levels. Highlighting diverse obstacles faced by female entrepreneurs, including financial constraints, limited knowledge, gender bias, and sociocultural factors, it underscores the pivotal role of governmental support. Specifically, in Northern Europe, gender equality, integration, and entrepreneurship policies are identified as crucial facilitators. Thus, migrant women, facing compounded challenges of gender, ethnicity, and immigration status, encounter barriers to accessing local opportunities. Motivations for entrepreneurship span economic survival, flexibility, and escape from domestic challenges. However, low-tech migrant enterprises often remain overlooked. Women’s business groups and governmental initiatives emerge as vital sources of support, emphasizing the need for tailored policies benefiting female entrepreneurs, especially migrants. The integration of such policies within broader entrepreneurial ecosystems ensures alignment and mutual reinforcement, thus policymakers are urged to recognize and address the distinct needs of female migrant entrepreneurs.

Chore or choice? Women and ethnic food entrepreneurship in the city

PurposeThis article explores in a qualitative manner the motivations of women entrepreneurs who start and run ethnic food businesses in London.Design/methodology/approachOur approach is qualitative and deploys phenomenographical analysis of interview narratives around categories of motivation.FindingsWe find that women ethnic food entrepreneurs are driven by a combination of desire for self-actualisation, identity-maintenance and community considerations. We demonstrate that women ethnic food entrepreneurs often go against the logic of the market, and they do so not because they lack other options, but for reasons that have to do with their (self-)identification as women and professionals, their prerogatives as mothers and daughters, their ethnic heritage, their emplacement in urban and global communities and their need to contribute. Our findings enrich understanding of female-led ethnic food entrepreneurship not as a demanding, overall unproductive undertaking for women with no other options, but as a realm of inspiration, community engagement and female-led innovation.Originality/valueOur main contributions are the qualitative interrogation of perceptions and experiences of identity and difference in urban entrepreneurship from the point of view of our interviewees; providing concrete empirical evidence for it through our sample and proposing an approach to thinking women-led ethnic food entrepreneurship as a vehicle for translating urban superdiversity into social interactions across barriers of difference. We speak to the field of women entrepreneurship studies but specifically to the understudied realm of women-led food entrepreneurship, and to the cross-disciplinary field of (im)migrant entrepreneurship.

Formation of entrepreneurial values through communication in entrepreneurial interactions in coastal areas

This study examines how entrepreneurial values are fostered through interaction and communication between local and migrant entrepreneurs in coastal tourism areas. The study emphasizes the critical role of a shared understanding of these values, highlighting the need to promote local economic growth and develop a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem. Research objectives: This study aims to identify the factors that drive entrepreneurial values among local and migrant entrepreneurs in coastal tourism areas. Methods: A qualitative research approach was used, and data was collected through interviews and observations. The study focused on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) operating in Pangandaran. The research shows that essential attributes of business success - such as grit, new ideas, and a willingness to stand on one’s own two feet - come from life experiences and the give-and-take within the community and culture. Both local entrepreneurs and travelers can use social connections and circles as tools for growth and support. At the heart of this discovery? These sociable traits are passed down through different groups, while language skills are spread across many places. Together, they create resilient people skilled in business and entrepreneurship. This Recommendation focuses on increasing collaboration between entrepreneurs through mentoring programs, workshops, and networking events to encourage the exchange of knowledge and experience. These initiatives are expected to increase innovation, competitiveness, and business sustainability in coastal tourism, strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Entrepreneurial migrations and diffusion of innovations: the case of Apulia in the first half of the 19th century

Purpose Through the reconstruction of the events of some foreign entrepreneurs who worked in the territory of the Italian city of Bari in the first half of the 19th century, this paper aims to analyze the role of entrepreneurial migration in the economic development of Apulia land in this period. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a theoretical framework that combines the concept of mixed embeddedness in a multifocal perspective, with the model of the diffusion of innovation focusing on the role of the so-called agency of actors, and of the network, in the dissemination of innovation. The theoretical framework is applied to multiple case studies to compare the evidence that emerged from the simultaneous analysis of several situations. Findings By analyzing how innovations have spread within the network of entrepreneurs of that time, it is possible to identify some relevant aspects related to the mechanisms of dissemination of innovations in the context of entrepreneurial migration. Specifically, the opportunity structure is intended in an even broader sense than indicated in the classic approach to mixed embeddedness: it is considered as the result of the joint interaction of the political, institutional and economic context of several places, and the behavioral dynamics of several groups. Research limitations/implications Due to the specific method chosen, the outcomes of the research might apply to a narrow context. Therefore, the results need to be tested and confirmed in further empirical studies, and by applying multiple research methods. Practical implications Findings are useful and significant in the analysis of the link that exists between the diffusion of innovations and migrant entrepreneurship, and then the conclusions can be applied and extended to the current phenomenon of migration-related innovations, with specific reference to developing countries. Social implications Findings can be applied and extended to the current phenomenon of migration-related innovations and highly skilled migration, with specific reference to developing countries. Originality/value This paper contributes to shed new light on the contextual and multifocal factors that influence the development of innovations in the networks of migrant entrepreneurship, in a specific historical period and a specific context. Combining social, human and financial capital with the wider opportunity structure, this study also provides a comprehensive understanding of the modalities through which migrant and high-skilled entrepreneurs could innovate.

Negative social capital and requests for resources in a developing country: The case of rural–urban migrants in Kampala, Uganda

AbstractThis article analyses the social networks of rural–urban migrant entrepreneurs in Uganda. While social contacts are often an important asset to access resources for migrants, they are often expected to financially support the members of their social networks. These claims for support are here labelled ‘negative social capital’, following Portes' seminal work. This paper focuses on the kinds of networks that are more likely to produce negative social capital, operationalized here as requests for financial resources, and links this to the discourse on bridging and bonding social capital. By means of a regression analysis, this article provides evidence of dense networks with a higher share of migrants (bonding social capital) being associated with negative social capital. In addition, both a higher share of contacts met before migration, which is related to bonding social capital, and a higher share of contacts living in the city, which is related to bridging social capital, are negatively associated with requests for resources. These findings suggest that migrants can instrumentally keep some contacts from before migration and acquire new key contacts in the urban area.

Refugee entrepreneurship: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

While scholars have traditionally studied successful entrepreneurship cases, they have focused less on studying how victims of adversity engage in entrepreneurial actions to create a better future for themselves and others. It is argued that while entrepreneurs are a major force of disruption, they possess resilience that enables them to cope with persistent and substantial adversity. Refugees facing extreme adversity can engage in entrepreneurial activities to create economic gains. While scholarly attention has been directed towards immigrant and migrant entrepreneurship, refugees present a different perspective due to the severity and persistence of their adversity. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of the refugee entrepreneurship literature. A total of 83 articles published between 2000 and 2021 across 22 entrepreneurship journals were analyzed. We identified four widely used theoretical lenses, namely mixed embeddedness, social networks, institutional theory and opportunity. Studies have primarily been conducted among refugees in European host countries, with an absence of studies in neighboring countries or refugee camps. Results show that scholarly enquiry into refugee entrepreneurship is still in its nascent stages with respect to theoretical perspective, method and data. The study contributes to the extant literature by outlining several potential research streams that could strengthen the notion of refugees in the entrepreneurship literature.