1 LACK OF TRUST – THE MAIN OBSTACLE FOR IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP? Aaltonen, Satu Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku, [email protected] Akola, Elisa Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku [email protected] Abstract This paper introduces the preliminary results of a study which aims to establish a context sensitive understanding of what are the most essential skills and resources needed by immigrant entrepreneurs in a new country and how these resources are acquired. The theory of social capital is used to interpret the findings. Paper gives a short introduction to labour market status of immigrants in Finland. Also the push and the pull factors to entrepreneurship, the role of the family as a context of socialization and source of support as well as the networks needed for success are briefly discussed. The data consists of 50 interviews conducted among self-employed immigrants in Finland. The results show that specific challenges for immigrant business owners are the lack of language skills and cultural knowledge as well as the distrust of locals. Those challenges are interrelated. Ways of gaining more social capital are discussed Key words: immigrant entrepreneurship, social capital, trust Introduction There are around 6 300 self-employed immigrants in Finland (Statistics Finland, 2012). The share of self-employment among immigrants is only slightly lower than among native population (8 and 9 per cent of the labour force respectively). As the number of non-natives has been increasing so has the number of self-employed immigrants. Despite of the growing importance of immigrant entrepreneurship in Finland the studies of self-employed immigrants are quite rare. Our study aims to establish a context sensitive understanding of what are the most essential skills and resources needed by immigrant entrepreneurs in a new country and how these resources are build. This paper introduces the preliminary results of the study in progress as well as the theoretical tools used in analysing the interview data. Also the push and the pull factors to entrepreneurship among immigrants, the role of the family as a context of socialization and source of support as well as the networks needed for success are briefly discussed in this paper. In this paper immigrant entrepreneur is defined as a person who has immigrated to a new country and started there a business. Therefore, our definition excludes ethnic entrepreneurs belonging to ethnic minorities who have been living in the country for several generations.
LACK OF TRUST – THE MAIN OBSTACLE FOR IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
Aug 04, 2023
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