Entrepreneurship among Diasporic Communities

Abstract

A comparative examination of two communities of India, namely, the Patidars of Gujarat and the Jats of Punjab, who constitute a majority in the Indian diaspora, reveals that both these communities share certain features such as landownership, middle caste status and a dominant caste position besides some socio-cultural similarities. Despite their common background, each has performed differently in foreign countries. The nature and streams of their immigration patterns differ. In the case of Patidars, it is a step migration while amongst the Jats the pioneers were ex-soldiers. The innovativeness and entrepreneurship of the Patidars significantly contributed to the economic development of the host countries. The Jats—the most progressive community—are found in almost all parts of the globe. They have largely taken up agricultural and industrial labour activities. They invariably invest their surplus money in buying some agricultural land. The differential performance of two communities points towards their different attributes, orientations towards work, work ideologies and primordial ties such as sense of family and kinship networks.

Motherland or home state? Allegiance of the Indian diaspora and its effect on reverse FDI

“…There is a distinct trend of Indians from particular regions settling abroad, and of engaging in particular occupations. Two of the biggest communities from India that have settled abroad are the Gujaratis and the Punjabis (Bal, 2006). The Gujaratis mainly come from the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat, while the Punjabis make up the majority of the people in the greater Punjab region that includes the northern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, the Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh.…”

“…The Gujaratis mainly come from the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat, while the Punjabis make up the majority of the people in the greater Punjab region that includes the northern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, the Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh. Gujaratis constitute the largest community in terms of actual numbers among the Indian diaspora, while the Punjabis have the highest proportion of overseas migrants as a proportion of their total population (Bal, 2006). A brief look at the history of these two communities will give us a better idea of how immigration from different parts of India has developed over time and how this affects the current behavior of these two groups.…”

“…The Gujarati migration began with the exploration of business opportunities in Africa. The Gujaratis became one of the biggest communities of Indians in East Africa, focussing mainly on trade and white-collar occupations (Bal, 2006).…”

“…In addition, beyond anecdotal evidence, there has been little business research done on intra-national diversity in diaspora other than a few studies on the Chinese. Bal (2006), has stated that there was a trend of regionalismone's tendency to favor their one's own region of origin over other ones in COOin the Indian diaspora in North America, even though it was not opposed to an Indian identity but in addition to it. An important question then becomes whether these intra-national regional tendencies within the Indian diaspora carry over to investment behavior in their COO.…”

“…Since the Indian diaspora in Bal (2006) study were not opposed to an Indian identity, would they prefer their own region of origin for investment over other parts of India? For example, do people from Maharashtra invest almost exclusively in Maharashtra?…”