The Effects of Cross-border e-Commerce Platforms on Transnational Digital Entrepreneurship

This research examines the important concept of transnational digital entrepreneurship (TDE). The paper integrates the host and home country entrepreneurial ecosystems with the digital ecosystem to the framework of the transnational digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. The authors argue that cross-border e-commerce platforms provide critical foundations in the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurs who count on this ecosystem are defined as transnational digital entrepreneurs. Interview data were dissected for the purpose of case studies to make understanding from twelve Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs living in Australia and New Zealand. The results of the data analysis reveal that cross-border entrepreneurs are in actual fact relying on the significant framework of the transnational digital ecosystem. Cross-border e-commerce platforms not only play a bridging role between home and host country ecosystems but provide entrepreneurial capitals as digital ecosystem promised.

The Effects of Cross-Border E-Commerce Platforms on Transnational Digital Entrepreneurship

This research examines the important concept of transnational digital entrepreneurship (TDE). The paper integrates the host and home country entrepreneurial ecosystems with the digital ecosystem to the framework of the transnational digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. The authors argue that cross-border e-commerce platforms provide critical foundations in the digital entrepreneurial ecosystem. Entrepreneurs who count on this ecosystem are defined as transnational digital entrepreneurs. Interview data were dissected for the purpose of case studies to make understanding from twelve Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs living in Australia and New Zealand. The results of the data analysis reveal that cross-border entrepreneurs are in actual fact relying on the significant framework of the transnational digital ecosystem. Cross-border e-commerce platforms not only play a bridging role between home and host country ecosystems but provide entrepreneurial capitals as digital ecosystem promised.

Brazilian Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Portugal and the Challenges of Crowdfunding

The objective of the study is to understand the degree of knowledge that immigrant entrepreneurs in Portugal have about crowdfunding and the predisposition they have for using this financial mechanism, and the related perceptions about benefits and risks. The chapter uses a quantitative approach, based on an online survey sent to immigrant entrepreneurs in Portugal. The results show that immigrant entrepreneurs have some knowledge about the general features of CF. However, most of them are not aware of the specificities of CF business models. Regarding the predisposition for using CF, the research reveals that although there is some predisposition, it is not very high among Brazilian immigrant entrepreneurs. The results also show that the respondents recognise the benefits of CF, specifically the project's visibility that the CF platform can offer. However, immigrant entrepreneurs' main concern is essentially related to the fear of not being able to obtain the necessary pledging goal.

Towards Enhancing Migrant Social Entrepreneurship Through Social Capital in Durban, South Africa

This chapter interrogates the notion of social capital and its potential impact on enhancing or undermining the socio-economic efforts by migrants in Durban, South Africa. Tshishonga argues that it is through entrepreneurship that entrepreneurs transform their innovative and creative ideas into business enterprises and job creation. This chapter is concerned about migrant social entrepreneurial endevours as a source of livelihoods within the informal economic sector. Informal businesses initiated by migrants have proven to be successful and sustainable compared to that of the locals. Despite the challenges faced by migrant entrepreneurs such as financial deficit, xenophobia, anti-foreign policies, victimization, violence, and harassment absence of police protection, etc., these enterprises thrive. This chapter employs a case study method where 15 African immigrant entrepreneurs were targeted to determine how social capital is used to expand and sustain their businesses.

Beyond embedded or not embedded: immigrant entrepreneurs’ embeddedness levels

Purpose This paper aims to review the immigrant entrepreneurship literature to locate how researchers consider embeddedness to home and host countries beyond the “embedded” or “not” dichotomy. Design/methodology/approach The paper conducts a systematic literature review. The authors found 106 articles in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, using a structured search and selection protocol. Findings Few articles perceive embeddedness openly as a gradual phenomenon. However, articles in the review use different approaches for considering relative levels of embeddedness, such as depth of social ties. In addition, some articles take a dual perspective or make multi-contextual comparisons to acknowledge immigrant entrepreneurs’ embeddedness levels. These articles emphasise embeddedness as a gradual phenomenon to understand the complexity of immigrant entrepreneurs’ contextualisation better. Based on the review, the paper develops a model, considering embeddedness as an emergent result of the immigrants’ engagement with spaces, networks, markets and institutions of a given home or host context. It also accounts for the dynamic interaction between contextual factors as embeddedness levels change. Research limitations/implications The paper has located all relevant papers in the used databases. However, the systematic review protocol naturally limits its scope. Nevertheless, the developed model based on the review helps researchers develop a more comprehensive understanding of embeddedness and possibly ask novel questions. Social implications This paper can help policymakers improve their policies for the progressive social integration of immigrants, as it helps consider different embeddedness levels. Originality/value Researchers mainly consider individuals’ embeddedness as either “embedded” or “not.” However, we can also understand embeddedness at various levels, e.g. partial, increasing/decreasing and gradual. Significant changes occur in the embeddedness of individuals during immigration. Additionally, contextual relations intertwine immigrants’ entrepreneurial activity over time. The paper reviews embeddedness in the immigrant entrepreneurship literature, searching beyond the dichotomic use of embeddedness. Then, it develops a theoretical understanding of embeddedness levels.

Socio and ethno-cultural embeddedness of transnational Nigerian immigrant entrepreneurs in Ghana

Transnational Nigerian immigrant entrepreneurs have been in Ghana for a long time, operating by utilizing a wide range of resources available to them. Key among these resources are their own socio and ethno-cultural norms which have yet to be explored in the existing scholarship. We explore these patterns and norms in the articulation of transnational entrepreneurship among these immigrants in Ghana. We do this by relying on qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews, observations and market conversations—with 41 Nigerian immigrant entrepreneurs in Accra, Kumasi, and Ashaiman. We argue that these transnational Nigerian immigrant entrepreneurs in Ghana are embedded in their own ‘socio and ethno-cultural heritage’. This argument is anchored in multiple logics. First is the notion of transnational entrepreneurial activity that is ethnically and culturally inspired. Secondly, these entrepreneurship activities are inextricably embedded in informality and intensely rely on informal power brokerage system. Thirdly, there is an embeddedness in the entrepreneurs’ own traditional apprenticeship system. These lines of socio and ethno-cultural embeddedness provide useful pathways for understanding not only the operations and future prospects but also the patterns of transnational (mixed) embeddedness of the Nigerian immigrant entrepreneurs in Ghana.

Entrepreneurship in Ethnic Enterprises: The Making of New Immigrant Businesses in New York

Research on ethnic entrepreneurship has generated substantial literature on the development of ethnic businesses among different immigrant groups in North America. Such studies tend to focus on the emergence of immigrant entrepreneurship among earlier immigrant groups by highlighting either the group characteristics or the opportunity structure. Existing studies also tend to overlook the importance of innovation in immigrants’ small businesses due to the marginality of immigrant businesses. Thus, there is a dearth of research on new immigrant communities in the USA that illuminates immigrants’ innovative practices. Drawing on the experiences of 50 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in New York, this research examined how this emerging immigrant group transformed into immigrant entrepreneurs through the investigation of their innovative practices in small business. This paper determined that immigrant entrepreneurs are embedded within the dynamics of the immigration trajectory and the broader context of American society. Although these new immigrants were driven towards the lower end of the economy, this study found that innovations have expanded the breadth and depth of their businesses and made their businesses different and rewarding.

Street markets, urban development and immigrant entrepreneurship: Unpacking precarity in Moore Street, Dublin

Traditional markets represent vital spaces of opportunity for livelihood-building, intercultural contact and for developing familiarity with the city. Yet, worldwide, markets are under pressure due to redevelopment agendas driven by neoliberalised forms of urban governance. Although precarious sites of occupation and employment, markets still maintain an attractiveness for immigrant micro-entrepreneurs as a foothold into the labour market and urban economy. Through a case study of the historic Moore Street market in central Dublin (Ireland), we explore the experiences of immigrant entrepreneurs. While these may be different in terms of their familiarity with the urban, institutional and regulatory landscapes, they are not entirely dissimilar from the experiences of longer-term traders in Moore Street. However what is evident is how precarity is tactically exploited by newcomer entrepreneurs for particular reasons. These traders prize the autonomy brought by market trading and use it as a meso-scale between low-paid waged employment and higher-level employment that may be out of reach for a variety of reasons. We argue that in examining urban precarity, increased attention should be paid to exploring the context-specific nature of the processes that give rise to it as well as the agentic capacity exercised to exploit it even within structural constraints.