Transnational migrant entrepreneur characteristics and the transnational business nexus

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of Colombian migrants’ transnational businesses (TBs) and their operations. To this end, the characteristics of the entrepreneurs, their businesses and the patterns of their international operations are discussed and compared. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses 14 cases developed from data from in-depth interviews with the same number of Colombian entrepreneurs who migrated to the USA. Similarly, the analysis includes secondary data sources. Findings TBs created by Colombian transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) aim to be successful through the best use of the resources of each market, allowing them to produce with lower costs and better quality in their country of origin while selling in more developed countries, such as the USA (their country of destination). The operations of those businesses are limited by their financial resources, small and fragmented networks, and their organic growth. The personal characteristics of the TE and their business comprise a nexus that helps to overcome business shortcomings. Originality/value The paper contributes to entrepreneurship, migration and international business literature by illuminating the nexus between the personal characteristics of the TE and the unique characteristics of their business, including the analysis of their international operations. Likewise, considering the characteristics of the context under study, the paper presents findings that are interesting for countries with similar social and economic difficulties.

The entrepreneurial financing of the immigrant entrepreneurs: a literature review

“…From this perspective, the dominant use of quantitative methods could be considered a drawback rather than a strength. As such, due to the lesser use of qualitative and mixed methods (e.g., W. Li et al 2009;Santamaria-Alvarez et al 2019; see more in Tables 5 and 6), research questions such as how the financing decisionmaking process of the IEs in their embeddedness/disembeddedness state looks like, how IEs build their informal financing relations with the co-ethnic and mainstream actors, or how the IEs increase their financing sophistication over time in hosting countries (see Table 7) remain unanswered.…”

“…Two potential strengths can be identified in the field concerning the IEs' financing preferences/choices. First, the wide coverage of the diverse formal (e.g., Aldén and Hammarstedt 2016;Ruiz-Vargas 2000; see more in Table 5), informal (e.g., Bruder et al 2011;Ostrovsky et al 2019;Santamaria-Alvarez et al 2019; see more in Table 5), and mixed financing preferences/choices of IEs in the hosting countries (e.g., Barrett et al 2002;Haynes et al 2008; Kariv and Coleman 2015; Sanders and Nee 1996; see more in Table 5). These preferences/ choices were found to be aligned with the IEs' ability to rely on the co-ethnic community, and to simultaneously interact with the other actors in the mainstream contexts (Dheer 2018).…”

Digital ethnicity affordances: from a liability to an asset in immigrant entrepreneurship

“…Second, digital media use allows these entrepreneurs to expand and diversify social networks to gather resources for business strategies (Santamaria-Alvarez et al, 2019) and to break out from enclave markets (Griffin-EL and Olabisi, 2018;Lassalle and Scott, 2018) into their countries of residenceor even beyond their countries of residence and origin (Anwar and Daniel, 2017;Santamaria-Alvarez et al, 2019). Connecting online with people and institutions of the same ethnicity can firmly anchor their relationship with the offline community (e.g., Matei and Ball-Rokeach, 2001).…”

A contextual understanding of diaspora entrepreneurship: identity, opportunity and resources in the Sri Lankan Tamil and Kurdish diasporas

“…This recognizes the particular impact and significance of transnational immigrant entrepreneurial activity to homeland areas (Brinkerhoff, 2016; Brzozowski et al. , 2014; Mago, 2020; Nielsen and Riddle, 2010; Santamaria-Alvarez et al. , 2019) and how home country conditions and ties influence immigrant entrepreneurial activity (Brzozowski and Cucculelli, 2020; Duan et al.…”

“…These include attention upon the agency of migrant entrepreneurs to shape institutional environments and ethnic identities and consciousness, acting as what Brinkerhoff (2016) terms "institutional diaspora entrepreneurs". This recognizes the particular impact and significance of transnational immigrant entrepreneurial activity to homeland areas (Brinkerhoff, 2016;Brzozowski et al, 2014;Mago, 2020;Nielsen and Riddle, 2010;Santamaria-Alvarez et al, 2019) and how home country conditions and ties influence immigrant entrepreneurial activity (Brzozowski and Cucculelli, 2020;Duan et al, 2021).…”