This study investigates differences in financial funding between immigrant and non-immigrant businesses and delineates factors influencing financial funding of immigrant businesses. Data for the study were collected in Israel between 2000 and 2005. By combining convenient and snowball samples, 214 native Israelis and 153 FSU immigrant entrepreneurs answered a questionnaire. We classified financial sources for immigrant businesses according to their affiliation to the ethnic community, and according to their relation to official financial institutions. Our study revealed that the scope of funding of immigrant businesses is significantly smaller than that of non-immigrant businesses. Immigrant entrepreneurs are more likely to finance their businesses from informal sources but they use fewer loans from family and friends than non-immigrant entrepreneurs. We found that immigrant entrepreneurs who deal with co-ethnic clients do not use more ethnic sources of capital for financing their businesses: the share of co-ethnic clients does not influence the ratio of ethnic financial sources for both setting up and expanding immigrant businesses. Our study revealed that governmental support in the terms of designated loans is the most salient factor influencing financial funding of immigrant businesses. The results suggest important implications for public policy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between immigrants and the native‐born population concerning estimations of the feasibility of becoming an entrepreneur, and to examine the relationship between the propensity for risk‐taking and the perceived feasibility of becoming an entrepreneur. The paper developed the renewed application of the entrepreneurial intentions model, with perceived feasibility to be an entrepreneur expressed as an assessment of opportunity to act, and risk‐taking propensity derived from an assessment of opportunity to succeed. This renewed approach enabled us to explain the paradox between immigrants' high entrepreneurial motivation and low perceived feasibility of becoming an entrepreneur based on the risk homeostasis theory. The high level of apparent immigration‐related risks experienced by immigrants in the past affects their risk‐taking propensity, thus decreasing their perceived feasibility of establishing businesses.

The article investigates the dimensions of life satisfaction of immigrant and ethnic minorities comparing them with the majority population. It constructs a theoretical framework, taking into account both pecuniary and non‐pecuniary dimensions of welfare. This study is based on the data of the Social Survey, administered by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. Immigrants in this study are regarded as a migrant minority and Israeli‐born Arab citizens as an ethnic minority. The results reveal significant life satisfaction gaps between the groups, which can be partially explained by the value of work per se and the value of leisure activities. Applying the Blinder‐Oaxaca decomposition technique, the study revealed that the gap in life satisfaction could be attributed both to the differences in pecuniary and non‐pecuniary resources for each group, and to different returns on resources. Policy targeted on increasing the economic possibilities of minority groups would decrease the life satisfaction gaps.

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This study explores to what extent immigrants adopt the business ethical attitudes of their host country and/or maintain those of their country of origin. For countries that have significant immigration, acculturation is an important social issue. An immigrant's acculturation is influenced through the ability to adapt his/her ''ethical culture of origin'' by integrating it with the host country's ethical culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the role of acculturation on immigrant's ethical attitudes. What happens to individuals, who have developed in one cultural context, when they attempt to live in a new cultural context? Three groups were the object of this study: (1) native students of business administration in Israel, (2) students of business administration in the Ukraine and (3) business students in Israel who had emigrated from the Ukraine. Samples of these student populations allowed the study of acculturation effects on the immigrants as they acclimated to Israeli society. Results showed that students living in the Ukraine had the lowest ethical attitudes, followed by Ukraine immigrants in Israel. Israeli-born students had significantly higher ethical attitudes than either of the two Ukrainian groups. Accordingly, the ethical perceptions of immigrant students showed that they were influenced by both their home and host cultures. According to Berry's (Appl Psychol Int Rev 46(1): 5-68, 1997) model of acculturation strategies, integration was their preferred strategy. The implications of these results and guidelines for further research are suggested.

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This study investigates the primary effect of positive, neutral, and negative exposure to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) TV portrayals in entertainment programs on attitudes toward the LGBT community and the Secondary Transfer Effect (STE) of such exposure on attitudes toward people with Asperger's Disorder (the secondary out‐group), controlling for face‐to‐face and online contacts with both out‐groups. Research was conducted using a mixed methods approach. Quantitative Study 1 used an online survey of 716 Israeli Jews, to investigate primary and secondary effects of TV exposure to LGBT portrayals. The positive primary effect of TV exposure was shown—regardless of LGBT portrayals perceived as positive, neutral, or negative. STE of TV exposure to neutral and negative LGBT portrayals is likely to diminish social distance to people with Asperger's Disorder, while no STE was found with positive LGBT portrayals. Full mediation effect of attitudes toward the LGBT community was found. Qualitative Study 2, based on 52 in‐depth interviews, was conducted in order to reveal the hidden mechanisms of these effects, examining the parasocial experience and its interpretations by the viewers. According to qualitative findings, the positive primary and secondary effects of negative exposure may be explained by varied interpretations of gay portrayals on TV by different people depending on social background and life experience, opposite reaction on stereotypical gay portrayals on TV, and asymmetrical negative‐positive heuristic. Given the important role of TV in fostering more positive intergroup relations, this research revealed sources of prejudice reduction and increase in tolerance toward “others” for society at large.