Explaining Variations in Business Performance Among Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID7843428
AuthorsDavid Ley (0000-0002-9112-4126, Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume32
Issue5
Pages743-764
Publication date2006-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691830600704123
OpenAlexW1977908301
LanguageEN
Citations received35
References cited38

This paper seeks to explain the self-reported business performance of entrepreneurs who entered Canada through the Business Immigration Programme. The study draws upon a detailed face-to-face questionnaire with 90 entrepreneurs in Vancouver, a third each from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. As suggested by the mixed-embeddedness model, state regulations provided a significant context for the economic actions of immigrant entrepreneurs. But opportunities were also narrowed by a perceived precariousness in the regional market. Overall, business performance was weak for entrepreneurs, despite significant pre-migration resources. Some factors regarded as encouraging entrepreneurialism were also important in shaping business outcomes. Human capital, though not the scale of investment capital, influenced business success. Consistent with European research, the ethnic enclave economy imposed a penalty on outcomes. Inter-ethnic variation was significant, with Korean-Canadians, who disproportionately sought mainstream markets, by far the most successful of the three groups. In addition they were less involved in transnational business activities, which seemed to compete with, rather than complement, Canadian enterprise

Business · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Embeddedness · Entrepreneurship · Ethnic group · Human capital · Immigration · Mainstream · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Finance

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