Returnee Entrepreneurs Research Articles

Research on the impact of digital inclusive finance on the performance of rural returnee entrepreneurs in China

Using data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), this paper explores the impact of digital inclusive finance on the entrepreneurial performance of returning rural migrants. The study first finds that digital inclusive finance can enhance the entrepreneurial performance of returning rural migrants. Second, it significantly improves entrepreneurial performance in three dimensions: the degree of digitization in inclusive finance, the depth of digital financial usage, and the breadth of digital financial coverage. Third, farmers’ digital participation, digital usage, and the extent of digital usage are crucial pathways through which digital inclusive finance influences their entrepreneurial performance. Fourth, the impact of digital inclusive finance on entrepreneurial performance varies according to different types of migration, duration of migration, scale of entrepreneurship, educational attainment, and credit access channels. The findings of this study help validate the real effects of digital inclusive finance on entrepreneurial outcomes in rural populations.

Grow or Well-Being? A Configurational Approach on Returnee Entrepreneurship

Grow or Well-Being? A Configurational Approach on Returnee Entrepreneurship

The Process of Returnee Entrepreneurship: From Firm Creation to Contribution

The Process of Returnee Entrepreneurship: From Firm Creation to Contribution

Entrepreneurial patterns and network leveraging in returnee entrepreneurship: a qualitative study of returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam

Returnee entrepreneurship is one of the significant drivers for economic growth in emerging economies. Although returnee entrepreneurship research has provided a comprehensive picture of who returnee entrepreneurs are, little is known about the motivations behind their decision to return and the decision to engage in entrepreneurship. In addition, while the nature of motivation may affect how entrepreneurs leverage networks during their venture creation, the current returnee entrepreneurship literature has not studied this phenomenon in depth. As such, adopting a qualitative approach, we identified three returnee entrepreneurial patterns and their corresponding network leveraging among 13 cases of returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam. Our study provides theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding of returnee entrepreneurial paths and network leveraging in returnee entrepreneurship context.

How to Build a Returnee Entrepreneurship Technology Capacity in Developing Countries Using A Learning Economy Approach? Replicating the Chinese Experience in Malaysia

Purpose: In the current globalised economy, the brain-drain phenomenon is increasingly perceived as brain circulation. Returnee Entrepreneurs (REs) are vital players in this shift. REs are defined as people who return to their country of origin and start new businesses after settling overseas for some time as workers, students, or trainees. While REs have proven effective in assuming key roles in technology transfer and sustainable in some developing economies in the last two decades or so. This has been widely seen in China and some other Eastern countries, but is yet to find its way to other countries, particularly those enjoying global diaspora. In Malaysia -focused in this study-, despite the institutional efforts meant to attract both national and foreign talents, little research, if any, has dealt with issues related to returnee entrepreneurs in general and those in the technology sectors in specific.
 
 Theoretical framework: The study builds on the learning economy theory and proposes a relevant approach that is likely to boost the development of technology returnee entrepreneurship in the country.
 
 Method: Using a narrative review, the paper presents the Chinese model of developing returnee entrepreneurship and shows how its well-adjusted replication could benefit Malaysia
 as well as other developing countries to initiate, implement, and monitor an impactful returnee entrepreneurship in the technology sector.
 
 Result and conclusion: Malaysia’s strategies designed to attract technology returnee entrepreneurs must consider three principal components: infrastructure, training, and support, with primary emphasis on the establishment of advanced science and technology parks with university-industry linkages, university-overseas-student ties, conducive institutional framework, financial support, and updated understanding of return motives and conditions.

The role of public-private partnerships in facilitating international migration of semi-skilled workers–A case study of Varanasi and nearby districts

This study focuses on the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in addressing skill gaps and enhancing the labor mobility of semi-skilled workers in Varanasi, India. The research aims to explore the impact of PPPs on labor mobility, factors influencing migration decisions, and the role of private agencies in facilitating international mobility. The findings underscore the importance of collaboration between public and private sectors and suggest policy implications such as strengthening skill development, comprehensive information dissemination, pre-departure orientation, institutional support, monitoring recruitment agencies, financial inclusion, cross-cultural training, and promoting returnee entrepreneurship. This study provides insights for effective migration policies benefiting both origin and destination countries by empowering migrant workers.

Serial Mediation Model Linking Returnee Entrepreneurship Education and Green Returnee Entrepreneurial Behavior: An Analysis of Environmental Improvement

With the increasingly negative impact of environmental pollution on human production and life caused by the non-green operation of enterprises, a new generation of returnee entrepreneurs is called upon to take on regional environmental protection and global ecological improvement. This study examined the impact of returnee entrepreneurship education (REE). A conceptual model is constructed based on REE as the core factor of environmental sustainability and uses the occurrence of green entrepreneurial behavior among new university graduates returning to their hometowns as an evaluation basis. Convenience sampling was applied, and the relevant data were collected from 358 new university graduates in Jiangsu Province, China who received REE during their university years. Empirical analysis based on partial least squares structural equation modeling shows that REE evokes a commitment to the environment (CE) and has an indirect significant impact on green returnee entrepreneurial behavior (GREB) through institutional support and intention. However, a CE did not have a significant direct effect. The findings of this study have significant reference value for decision-makers in government departments in developing countries, universities, and many social groups that are actively responding to the United Nations Sustainable Development Initiative.

Institutional Logics Among Returnee Entrepreneurs: A Study of the Vietnamese Information Technology Industry

Returnee entrepreneurs are unique actors spanning between different environments. When coming back to their home countries to start new ventures, they inevitably face challenges in reconciling different logics from their home and host countries. The interplay of these different logics creates institutional complexity. This paper examines the interplay of multiple logics induced from home and host countries and the entrepreneurs’ responses to this situation. Multiple in-depth interviews with returnee entrepreneurs in the information technology industry in Vietnam have revealed that the entrepreneurs configure market and innovation logics among three sets of practices, including product/market, internal capacity, and reactions to institutional constraints. Four strategic responses to institutional complexity, namely non-learner, adaptor, camouflager, and innovator were also identified. Furthermore, this study finds the entrepreneurs’ strategic responses and their active influence on local institutions upon their return. Relevant implications and recommendations are also discussed.

The influence of cultural orientation on the entrepreneurial motivation of Chinese female returnee entrepreneurs—From the perspective of cultural integration

The influence of cultural orientation on the entrepreneurial motivation of Chinese female returnee entrepreneurs—From the perspective of cultural integration

Entrepreneurial identity play through cross-cultural experience: Insights from returnees

Entrepreneurial identity plays a crucial role in the entrepreneurial process. Although cross-cultural experience likely shapes entrepreneurial identity in enduring ways, we are not clear on how and why. Returnee entrepreneurs, who move between distinct sociocultural contexts, offer a valuable lens to explore how aspects of cross-cultural experience interact with entrepreneurial identity. Incorporating the concept identity play, we aim to explore how returnees process their cross-cultural experience in ways that shape their entrepreneurial identity when venturing back home. Adopting a qualitative design with 12 cases of returnee entrepreneurs, we develop a three-stage process model of identity play through which returnees navigate the differences between the host and home country to construct their entrepreneurial identity: envisioning, enacting, and refining. We suggest that it is the nexus of cross-cultural experience and entrepreneurial activities that this identity play manifests. We make contributions to the literatures on entrepreneurial identity and cross-cultural experience in entrepreneurship. In addition, we contribute to the meaningful heterodoxies section's call for a better understanding of how entrepreneurs moving between distinct cultures select cultural elements to generate valuable heterodoxies.

Impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and knowledge transfer on business development: moderating effect of time living abroad

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and knowledge transfer (KT) on business development (BD) as well as the moderating effect of time living abroad on returnee entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative approach was used in this study to grasp and validate the conceptual framework. This research was guided by a positivist survey research technique. A structured questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, and 151 returnee entrepreneurs were involved in the study. SEM with SmartPLS was used as a data analysis tool.FindingsThe results of this study show that returnee entrepreneur’s education and KT is positively associated with BD, while the time living abroad was not proved to have a moderation effect on BD.Practical implicationsThis study has academic and practical relevance, as it adds new knowledge and a better understanding of the role of returnee entrepreneurs in BD and expands research on returnee entrepreneurs. In terms of practical contributions, this research offers suggestions to governments, policymakers and the business community about the impact of returnee entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial ecosystems of their home countries.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few studies that have analysed the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and KT on BD by using the survey technique. The results of this empirical research are based on primary data collected via a questionnaire.

Returnee entrepreneurs’ effects on external and internal CSR in China: the moderating role of market embeddedness and government endorsement

PurposeLittle attention has been given to the effects of returnee entrepreneurs on external and internal corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study aims to investigate whether returnee entrepreneurs engage in more external or internal CSR and to further explore the contingency effects of foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses 11,967 startups in China to examine the relationship between returnee entrepreneurs and external and internal CSR. The authors use an ordinary least square regression and propensity scoring matching approach to analyze the data.FindingsThe empirical results show that returnee entrepreneurs are more likely to undertake external CSR but less likely to undertake internal CSR. Foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement have opposite moderating effects on these relationships.Practical implicationsThis study has important implications for returnee entrepreneurs’ strategic choice between external and internal CSR and also provides theoretical support for policymakers to make effective and enforceable CSR policies.Originality/valueThis study discusses how returnee entrepreneurs implement external or internal CSR in China, answering the call to distinguish between external and internal CSR. Drawing on a legitimacy perspective, the authors find interesting and seemingly counterintuitive effects of returnees on external and internal CSR, which also necessitates distinguishing between these two types of CSR. In addition, the authors find different moderating roles of foreign market embeddedness and local government endorsement.

Improving the entrepreneurial ability of rural migrant workers returning home in China: Study based on 5,675 questionnaires

Innovation and entrepreneurship play a key role in the development of a country’s economy and society. In recent years, along with the comprehensive implementation of China’s rural revitalization strategy, the government has issued many policies to support and benefit farmers, and the investment environment in villages has been greatly improved, attracting more and more migrant workers to return to their hometowns to start businesses. Improving the entrepreneurial ability of China’s returning migrant workers is very important. A review of the previous literature showed that both internal personal factors and external environmental factors can affect the entrepreneurial ability of entrepreneurs. Combining the results of the questionnaire survey, this paper incorporates eight internal personal factors and eight external environmental factors into the index system for assessing entrepreneurial ability and uses a combination of SWOT analysis and AHP analysis to prioritize the factors influencing the entrepreneurial ability of returning migrant workers in China. The results are as follows: (1) The factors influencing the entrepreneurial ability of returnee entrepreneurs could be divided into two types: the individual factors of returnee entrepreneurs, and the external environmental factors. (2) Among the internal factors, technical experience and business management ability are the two main factors influencing entrepreneurial activity. (3) Among the external environmental factors, the opportunity for industrial structure adjustment and low technical content would have a higher influence on the entrepreneurial activity of returnee entrepreneurs. Accordingly, this study proposes some policy recommendations on how to improve the entrepreneurial ability of returnee entrepreneurs. Finally, the research methodology of this paper can be used as a reference for other scholars, and the research results can also be used for administrators to develop relevant policies to better improve the entrepreneurial ability of returnee entrepreneurs.

Returnee entrepreneurial entry decisions among forced and voluntary returnees in Ethiopia: A comparative study

ABSTRACT Returnee entrepreneurship has become an important topic of interest due both to the increasing number of return migrants and the particular nature of their entrepreneurial activities. In some cases, such as in Taiwan, China, and Israel, voluntary returnees have made a significant impact on their home country’s economic development. However, some expatriates are forced to return due to rapid changes in the political and economic situations of their host countries. We compare and examine these two different cohorts in Ethiopia to understand what attributes are transportable and facilitate entrepreneurship, as well as barriers for the two different groups. Scholarly understanding of what drives returnee entrepreneurial entry decisions remains limited, even more so regarding sub-Sahara Africa. Using the mixed embeddedness perspective, this paper aims to unveil the multi-level drivers of returnee entrepreneurial entry decisions by comparing forced and voluntary returnees to Ethiopia. Based on in-depth interviews with 25 returnees, abductively, the findings indicate the interactive influence of personal and interpersonal factors, simultaneous engagement, and opportunity promise on returnee entrepreneurial entry decisions. Specifically, for the voluntary returnees, childhood aspirations, altruistic desire, simultaneous engagement, and nostalgia, coupled with migration capital and opportunity promise influence their business entry decisions. For the forced returnees, lack of options, regrets about migration, preconceptions, tacit capital, and government support drive their entry decisions. We discuss how these factors are contingent on migrants’ pre-, post-, and during-migration conditions in facilitating returnee entrepreneurship. We also illuminate the distinctive differences between forced and voluntary returnees. Implications for theory and practice are indicated.

Knowledge recontextualization by returnee entrepreneurs: The dynamic learning perspective

Effective knowledge recontextualization is key to successful knowledge transfer in cross-cultural context. This paper explores how returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam learn to recontextualize their overseas knowledge while establishing new ventures back in their home country. Our dynamic learning process model suggests that (1) in the pre-founding phase, an interactive vicarious learning and intuitive learning mechanism enables returnees to make sense of overseas knowledge; (2) during the founding phase, blended learning mechanism – the balancing act between market response versus market imposing - helps returnees manage the paradoxical cross cultural tension, importantly (3) in the growth phase, the cycling between unlearning and relearning helps them discard, select and recreate new knowledge in the pursuit of sustainable entrepreneurial growth. The study advances the literature on knowledge recontextualization by clarifying key underpinning learning mechanisms essential for ensuring “effectiveness” outcomes. It also contributes to the work on returnee entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial learning by demonstrating how international entrepreneurs learn overtime to thrive in a conflicting cultural context.

The Mediating Role of Tacit Knowledgel in Knolwedge Recontexualisation by Returnee Entrepreneurs

Recontextualising knowledge is the key to effective knowledge transfer across different business contexts. While knowledge recontextualization has been explored in intra-firm knowledge transfer within multinational enterprises, few studies have extended the concept of knowledge recontextualization to returnee mobility - an effective international knowledge transfer mechanism by returnee entrepreneurs. Using our own surveyed data of 91 Vietnamese returnee entrepreneurs, this study examines under what institutional conditions and individual characteristics returnee entrepreneurs can successfully recontextualize brought back international knowledge and enhance firm performance when operating in their home country. We found that the transfer of tacit knowledge plays an important mediating role to achieve the effective knowledge recontextualization. Keeping home embeddedness while living aboard is critical to help returnees fit back to home country while too much or too little host embeddedness can harm their knowledge recontextualization back to home market.

Determinants of returnees’ entrepreneurship in rural marginal China

Returnee entrepreneurship represents a new direction in entrepreneurial migration and a distinct mode of geographical mobility among entrepreneurs. This study focuses on the Tibetan region of Sichuan, China, in researching young adults who have returned to rural marginal areas from cities to engage in tourism entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial ecosystem is taken as a theoretical basis to evaluate critical determinants of returnee entrepreneurs' business development from two perspectives: macro (the entrepreneurial environment) and micro (entrepreneurs themselves). The authors conducted four narrative interviews with local bed and breakfast entrepreneurs in the Ganzi prefecture. Findings reveal that local embeddedness and non-local connections are vital to returnee entrepreneurs’ business development. Numerous determinants related to local embeddedness and non-local connections are also tied to entrepreneurial ecosystem elements, such as infrastructure, institutions, market conditions, and capital.

Returnee Entrepreneurial Liabilities among the Forced and Voluntary Returnees in Ethiopia

Studies on returnee entrepreneurship remain insufficient regarding what deters return migrants’ potential contribution to the local economy. By employing legitimacy and self-efficacy theories, this study aims to provide evidence on the challenges of returnee entrepreneurship in Ethiopia by comparing voluntary returnees and forced returnees running a business in an environment they had been absent from for a prolonged period. We used qualitative interviews to abductively study the challenges returnees undergo as business owners. We interviewed 10 voluntary returnees and 14 forced returnees who are running a business in Ethiopia. The interview data was fed to Nvivo 12 software for coding and category development. We observe that returnee entrepreneurs face three main challenges that we collectively label as a returnee liability; institutional inertia, unrealized expectation, and readjustment crises. However, challenges interact together to constrain returnee endeavors. As we compare the forced and voluntary returnees, we observe that the challenges tend to converge at the institutional level, but manifest in different forms and magnitude among the two groups regarding expectation and readjustment crises. For the forced returnees, migration was found to contribute to the depreciation of their human capital, different from the positive role of migration in the literature. Implications of the study have been discussed.

Understanding the Impact of Rural Returnees’ Hometown Identity on Their Successful Entrepreneurship with the Operations Research Framework

In the past ten years, China’s rapid urbanization has hollowed out the rural population considerably. Although returnee entrepreneurship has become a catalyst for retaining people and revitalizing the countryside, most disenfranchised Chinese villages struggle to retain their returnees, owing to their lack of infrastructure and low quality of life. However, many e-commerce villages and live broadcast villages have emerged in the eastern coastal plains of China. Returnees, inspired with a strong hometown identity, have become the driving force in the development of these villages. This study investigates the relationship between the hometown identity of returnees and their entrepreneurial success with the operations research framework. We explored the mediating role of the agglomeration of knowledge to illustrate the mechanism between the hometown identity and entrepreneurial success, while testing the moderating effect and conditional indirect effects of the returnees’ creativity through moderated mediation analysis. Using the time lag research method, we collected field data from villages in the northern plains of Jiangsu Province. The research results showed a positive correlation between the hometown identity and entrepreneurial success, with agglomerated knowledge production as an important intermediary. Returnees with a stronger sense of a hometown identity and higher creativity are more likely to enjoy entrepreneurial success. This research has important reference significance for all levels of government concerned with rural development, and returnees who desire to start their own businesses.

Cross-border network ties of returnee entrepreneurs and foreign market diversity

PurposeThis study examines the effect of cross-border network ties of returnee entrepreneurs on the foreign market diversity of their ventures. The study further investigates how two cross-cultural competencies (global mindset and cultural intelligence) moderate this effect.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 135 returnee entrepreneurial ventures from China was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThis study finds that returnee entrepreneurs tend to enter into a wide range of culturally different country groups when returnee entrepreneurs have strong cross-border network ties. Moreover, global mindset and cultural intelligence function as complements in strengthening the effect of the cross-border network ties on foreign market diversity.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to both returnee entrepreneurship and foreign market entry literature in two ways. First, by examining the effect of cross-border network ties on foreign market entry, the authors add new and important insights into the role of social networks in the pre-internationalization phase. This is useful in understanding the internationalization process of new ventures founded by returnees, which have not been fully understood in returnee entrepreneurship literature. Second, by examining the moderating roles of global mindset and cultural intelligence, the authors enhance the understanding of the extent to which cross-border networks can be valuable in foreign market entry.