The object of this research is the problem of confrontation between the traditional forms of economic activity of ethnocultural communities and unifying effect of economic integration in the context of migration processes. The establishment of world economic system in the modern conditions of global transformation created an unprecedented level of interdependence of the economies of nation states and general rules of their functioning. At the same time, the traditional forms of economies that are greatly affected by ethnic factor also retain. The author explores such questions as definition of the concepts “ethnic economy” and “ethnic entrepreneurship” within the scientific discourse, the factors of emergence of these economic phenomena, proclivity of particular ethnoses for commercial activity and small business. Special attention is paid to the analysis of ethnic entrepreneurship as a form of economic activity of local communities in the foreign cultural space. It is demonstrated that being in a new social environment and attempting to adjust to it, the representatives of ethnic group occupy free zones in economic system of the country, or create own forms of economic activity related to cultural traditions of the ethnos. The acquires results allow to theoretically substantiate that ethnic identity has a strong economic potential, which manifests in the forms of ethnic economy, ethnic entrepreneurship, and stimulates the process economic adaptation of migrants in the accepting society. Affiliation to a particular ethnocultural community significantly influences economic behavior of the people; its specificity is defined by the set of historical, cultural, and economic and living conditions of the ethnos. Economic potential of ethnic identity is substantiated by a number of factors: historically established forms of organization of economic activity of the ethnos; preservation of economic structure due to localization of life of the traditional communities; reproduction of the tested model of economic behavior; specifics of economic culture with the value orientations of a local ethnic community.
