A Comparative Study of Entrepreneurial Opportunity Identification between Immigrant Entrepreneurs

and Non-Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Europe

Nur Suhaili Binti Ramli

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Session : New Views on Entrepreneurship
Room : 2312

Abstract in English:

Europe has become one of the important destination regions for international migration in the last two
decades. The emergence of mass migration in Europe has encouraged immigrants to become involved in
entrepreneurial activities. Some push factors in Europe like language barriers, level of education,
network, immigration policies, and a few other problems, had likely encouraged immigrants to start
their small businesses. The immigrant entrepreneurship research in Europe is often studied by a country
level, but a comparative and historical approach to study within the European countries are limited.
Also, there is no study available that compares the immigrant entrepreneurship phenomenon in
different European cities at large, particularly on entrepreneurial opportunity identification. This study
aims to analyse the immigrant entrepreneurship phenomenon in Europe over time, by looking at some
historical evidence, and combining with the current data collected on how they identify entrepreneurial
opportunity and activities. Therefore, the research methodology is divided into two sections, (1)
historical method, and (2) contemporary method. The historical method relies heavily on the materials
such as related reports on entrepreneurship from the EU27 countries, flyers, books, EU government
documents, and technical reports, which only available at the European Union Historical Archives in
Florence. The contemporary method relies on survey distribution to the immigrant entrepreneurs in the
EU27 countries. This study uses content analysis techniques to collect data from the historical materials
that have been identified, while multiple regression to analyse quantitative data from the survey. In this
conference, I only present the work-in-progress on the historical part of the research, which feedback
from the experts will be helpful for a later stage. The preliminary findings from two pilot studies
summarise that despite difficulties in starting and maintaining their entrepreneurial activities such as
language barriers, access to finance and loans, different culture and views, and bureaucracy, there still
exists a keen interest in creating businesses among the immigrant entrepreneurs regardless their
background. Also, the immigrant entrepreneurs in Europe view challenges as temporary and are
planning for long-term growth. Although the profits gain by the majority of the respondents is between
low and medium, it offers income security, motivation, and pride for them to work harder (survival).
Political stability and democracy, which providing support and better socio-economic opportunity are
the main reasons that immigrant entrepreneurs flourish in Europe over the last two decades.