Testing the underdog entrepreneurship theory with specialised Australian immigrant data

Bibliographic Data

ID5877248
AuthorsYan Tan (0000-0002-4013-1713), Leigh Lester (0000-0002-9882-4619)
Year2025
Publication date2025-07-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-5863 • E-ISSN: 1745-5871
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-5871.70024
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited36

Migrants account for a significant proportion of the Australian workforce, and for many entrepreneurs in its business sector; but they experience difficulties due to language, culture shock, family separation, social exclusion, disability, poverty, and discrimination-across cohorts, visa streams, and geographical locations. Their entrepreneurship choices are conditioned by demographic, socioeconomic, and contextual factors; but little is known about how these choices are affected by migration status, gender, socioeconomic and demographic adversity, and geographic location in their new country. Using the 2021 Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID), we examine how these factors influence entrepreneurship choices and preferences for owning incorporated versus unincorporated businesses among permanent migrants arriving in Australia between 2000 and 2021. We analyse relationships between entrepreneurship and demographic, socioeconomic, and contextual factors, distinguished by gender and applicant status, and construct a two-stage conceptual framework and two-step multilevel econometric models to decompose entrepreneurial outcomes that consider various effects. Our quantitative study yields important new evidence and advances knowledge concerning demographic and economic processes, with policy implications at micro and macro levels for inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment levels, and decent work trajectories

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