Does family involvement help small migrant businesses survive? A closer examination of family in migrant entrepreneurship

Abstract

Purpose Drawing on the resource-based view, this study aims to examine how family involvement in migrant-founded small businesses gives rise to distinctive resources that help these businesses survive. Design/methodology/approach Using microdata from the 2007 US survey of business owners (SBO), this study uses logit regression modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings Results show that small businesses founded by migrant entrepreneurs are less likely to survive and that family involvement weakens the negative relationship between founder migrant status and business survivability. In addition, the positive moderating effect associated with family involvement is further strengthened by the use of external/borrowing startup capital, thus migrant families founded small businesses with access to external capital have the highest probability of survival. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on both migrant entrepreneurship and family business. This paper finds family involvement in the business, interacting with the founder’s migrant status, tends to create distinctive resource endowments that help to compensate for the resource constraints associated with migrant entrepreneurs. Such resource endowments may take the form of high levels of solidarity among migrant family members and the spanning role of the migrant kinship networks extended from the country of origin to the country of residence.

Management succession planning and family-owned manufacturing businesses survival

“…Likewise, scholars agree that labour resource (human resource) is the most important resource in the family-owned business and it can be built by attaining skills, knowledge, and competences through training and work experience, or involvement in business management (Alayo et al, 2016;Woodman, 2017;Li & Johansen, 2021). In connection to this study, this implies that training successor, and successor involvement in business management are essential constructs of management succession planning.…”

“…Concerning successor involvement in business management, Maas et al (2005) and Morris et al (1997) emphasise considering the experience of the successor in the family-owned before choosing that successor to manage that business. Transparent involvement of the family members in making the decisions related to business management is essential in enriching their competencies (Dumbu, 2018;Alayo et al, 2016;Li & Johansen, 2021). In addition, the preparation level of the successor and the period involved in business management decides the ability of the successor in making appropriate decisions and taking the leadership position (Mokhber et al, 2017;Woodman, 2017).…”

Guest editorial: Migrant entrepreneurship and the roles of family beyond place and space: towards a family resourcefulness across borders perspective

“…The multiple geographical locations might allow migrants to live, work and obtain necessary resources from and through family (Bagwell, 2015) and pursue business opportunities sequentially or even in parallel (Elo et al , 2019; Drori et al , 2009). The migrant’s family plays a role in granting migrant entrepreneurs access to these resources, not only in the country of residence and origin (Karayianni et al , 2021; Li and Johansen, 2021) but also in other countries where migrants have kinship connections (Bagwell, 2015; Bagwell, 2018).…”

“…Hidden values deriving from the family across borders drive the diaspora family business owners to learn from self-reflection and become entrepreneurially prepared Manik et al (2021) Contribution lies in the role of family and external partners in the running of ethnic enterprises at start-up and growth phases. The definition of "family" is based on a kinship perspective due to the specificity of Asian cultures, particularly in Indonesia, as found by examining the Javanese and Minang tribes in Indonesia that have unique cultural values Li and Johansen (2021) Contribution shows that small businesses founded by migrant entrepreneurs are less likely to survive since family involvement weakens the negative relationship between founder migrant status and business survivability. The positive moderating effect associated with family involvement is further strengthened by the use of external/borrowing startup capital.…”

Entrepreneurial Orientation, Dynamic Capabilities, and Business Processes Performance: Evidence from Egyptian SMEs.

“…Small and medium sized businesses usually suffer from a prolonged problem of survival (Abdelkareem, 2020; Z. Li & Johansen, 2021). The lack of adequate resources hinders the ability of SMEs to secure higher level of exibility which erode their ability to survive and grow (Okpara, 2011).…”