Returned Entrepreneurs and Ability to Generate Innovations: Case of Kosovo

Abstract

Numerous scientific studies underscore the importance of returned entrepreneurs for a country's economy. Returned entrepreneurs are individuals who have worked or studied abroad and subsequently returned to their homeland to initiate entrepreneurial ventures, bringing with them experience and knowledge from abroad. The motivations of these returned entrepreneurs vary significantly. This study aims to investigate the motives, knowledge, and experiences of returned entrepreneurs, specifically in the context of Kosovo, and how they contribute to creating innovations. A qualitative data approach is often considered the most appropriate methodology for such investigations, and this study employs it accordingly. To this end, 12 structured interviews were conducted with returned entrepreneurs, which helped us answer the study's objectives. Notably, the motivations of returned entrepreneurs differ across developing countries. The results of this study provide scientific evidence of these differences, thereby contributing to the entrepreneurship literature. The findings highlight that one of the main motivations of entrepreneurs in the Kosovar context relates to knowledge/experiences and connections formed abroad, a finding consistent with human capital theory and Internationalisation Theory. Another significant discovery of this study is that returned entrepreneurs in Kosovo have generated innovations related to new products/services, work methods, production methods, sales methods, and the application of new technologies. The generation of such innovations is regarded as a primary source of a country's economic growth. Therefore, this study is expected to have theoretical implications, as well as political implications beneficial to the local economy.

The Potential of Informal Institutions in Promoting Green Enterpreneurship (Ge) and Sustainable Socio-Economic Development

“…The process of fostering Green Enterpreneurship (GE) and establishing new institutional resource-based environments are indispensable drivers of sustainable socio-economic development. The innovative capacity and awareness of the millennial generation are key Pages 1 -20 Prasetyo et al / Economics -Innovative andEconomics Research Journal, doi: 10.2478/eoik-2023-0061 2 factors in this endeavor (Nikolaou et al, 2018;Prasetyo et al, 2022a;Genoveva and Tanardi, 2022;Rudaku et al, 2023). Prior research has drawn attention to institutional gaps, particularly in supporting female entrepreneurs to mitigate gender disparities in Green Enterpreneurship (GE) (Prasetyo et al, 2023;Pindado et al, 2023).…”