Факторы развития мигрантского предпринимательства на примере русскоговорящих мигрантов-предпринимателей в Канаде
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INTRODUCTION 9
CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
MOTIVES OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP 12
1.1. General overview of the literature on migrant entrepreneurship 12
1.2. Push and pull theories of entrepreneurial motivation 18
1.3. Mixed embeddedness theory 20
1.4. Institutional theory 22
1.5. Summary and conceptual framework development 24
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27
2.1. Data collection 27
2.2. Research sample 28
2.3. Data analysis strategy 31
CHAPTER 3. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS 37
3.1. Discussion of the results 37
3.2. Theoretical contribution 47
3.3. Managerial implications 48
3.4. Limitations of the research 49
3.5. Future research directions 50
CONCLUSION 51
LIST OF REFERENCES 53
APPENDICES 58
Appendix
CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP.
MOTIVES OF MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP 12
1.1. General overview of the literature on migrant entrepreneurship 12
1.2. Push and pull theories of entrepreneurial motivation 18
1.3. Mixed embeddedness theory 20
1.4. Institutional theory 22
1.5. Summary and conceptual framework development 24
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 27
2.1. Data collection 27
2.2. Research sample 28
2.3. Data analysis strategy 31
CHAPTER 3. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS 37
3.1. Discussion of the results 37
3.2. Theoretical contribution 47
3.3. Managerial implications 48
3.4. Limitations of the research 49
3.5. Future research directions 50
CONCLUSION 51
LIST OF REFERENCES 53
APPENDICES 58
Appendix
Migration is widely discussed in scientific literature, being one of the effects of undergoing globalization processes and geopolitical shifts.
In recent decades, the number of immigrants worldwide has been growing and has reached 281 million people in 2020 (IOM, World migration report, 2022). As research shows, immigrants are more likely to launch their business ventures than native-born citizens of the host country (Vandor, 2021). This may be explained by the fact that immigrants are more risk tolerant, since emigration is a process requiring high levels of stress and risk tolerance. Furthermore, immigrants may encounter some pull factors in the host country, encouraging them to start their businesses.
SMEs created by immigrants boost host countries’ economies (Acz, 2006). Nevertheless, migrant entrepreneurial activity benefits not only the host countries, but also countries of their origin, since they tend to keep strong bonds with these countries. Hence, migrant entrepreneurial activities are of interest for both: for decision makers of the host countries as well as for decision makers of the countries of their origins.
For this study, we have decided to focus on the Russian-speaking migrant entrepreneurs residing in Canada. We do not focus specifically on immigrants whose country of origin is Russian Federation, because as the extant research on Russian diaspora shows (Ryazantsev, 2016), it is more appropriate to speak about Russian-speaking or Russophone diaspora rather than simply Russian one: Russian language and/or shared culture play the role of a grouping variable.
Russophone migrant entrepreneurs are of particular interest to study as Russian is one of the most spoken languages in the world, with its 258 million speakers (behind English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bengali1). This means that more than 115 million people are Russian-speaking and reside outside Russia, hence creating a potential network for the interaction in different contexts, including business. It is equally noteworthy that from the 1970s there were several waves of emigration from the USSR and post-soviet space up to date. The first wave took place in the 1970s, the second one after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1990s) and the third one relates to the most recent period of 2010s. In the light of the current global political processes, it seems that even more Russian-speaking migrants will leave their countries of origin. According to the data released by the Russian Unified Interagency Information and Statistical System, more
1 Chinese and Hindi may be ignored since they are mostly spoken in China and India and not outside these countries people left Russia in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 (RUIISS, Statistics on departures, 2022).
Although Russian language is widely used outside Russia and there were several waves of emigration from ex-USSR countries, research on entrepreneurial activity of Russian-speaking migrants has been scarce up to date and covered a limited number of contexts (Vinogradov & Gabelko, 2010; Munkejord, 2017; Vershinina & Rodgers, 2020; Elo et al., 2022). Hence, we expect to extend the existing knowledge on the topic.
Studying migrant entrepreneurship in the Canadian context seems more than relevant since Canada is the country with a significant number of migrants in its population: 8.05 mln in absolute numbers and 21.3% of the total population (IOM, World migration report, 2022). As for the number of Russophone immigrants in Canada, according to the population census (2021) reports that around 550 000 people report ethnic or cultural Russian origin and around 220 000 report it to be their mother tongue (Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021).
Additionally, choosing Canada is relevant for this particular study, as Canada is characterized by its favorable entrepreneurial culture and the existence of solid entrepreneurship support mechanisms (Kariv, 2011).
From the theoretical perspective, this research aims to contribute to studies on migrant entrepreneurship, more specifically it will fill the existing gap in conceptualization of drivers of migrant entrepreneurship.
Thus, the goal of this research is to identify what drives migrant entrepreneurship by studying a particular case of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada, one of the countries attracting a large number of immigrants.
To achieve this goal, several tasks need to be completed:
• Determine theoretical approaches that will help to understand the motives of migrant entrepreneurship;
• Conduct an interview-based empirical research on a sample of 9-10 Russophone migrant entrepreneurs;
• Analyze gathered data using the Gioia methodology (grounded theory), focusing on codes related to drivers of entrepreneurial activity and the role of institutions;
• Suggest paths for further research.
To summarize, the object of this study is migrant entrepreneurship and the subject of the study is the motives of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada. For the purposes of this study qualitative interview-based research design has been selected as our goal is to formulate the motives of migrant entrepreneurship. Moreover, qualitative design allows to gain a deeper insight into the micro-level of entrepreneurs which is connected with motivation to start businesses.
As a result of this research, we expect to contribute to the theoretical understanding of migrant entrepreneurship as well as suggest practical recommendations for host countries’ decision-makers, since migrant entrepreneurship contributes to the development of a host country's economy.
In recent decades, the number of immigrants worldwide has been growing and has reached 281 million people in 2020 (IOM, World migration report, 2022). As research shows, immigrants are more likely to launch their business ventures than native-born citizens of the host country (Vandor, 2021). This may be explained by the fact that immigrants are more risk tolerant, since emigration is a process requiring high levels of stress and risk tolerance. Furthermore, immigrants may encounter some pull factors in the host country, encouraging them to start their businesses.
SMEs created by immigrants boost host countries’ economies (Acz, 2006). Nevertheless, migrant entrepreneurial activity benefits not only the host countries, but also countries of their origin, since they tend to keep strong bonds with these countries. Hence, migrant entrepreneurial activities are of interest for both: for decision makers of the host countries as well as for decision makers of the countries of their origins.
For this study, we have decided to focus on the Russian-speaking migrant entrepreneurs residing in Canada. We do not focus specifically on immigrants whose country of origin is Russian Federation, because as the extant research on Russian diaspora shows (Ryazantsev, 2016), it is more appropriate to speak about Russian-speaking or Russophone diaspora rather than simply Russian one: Russian language and/or shared culture play the role of a grouping variable.
Russophone migrant entrepreneurs are of particular interest to study as Russian is one of the most spoken languages in the world, with its 258 million speakers (behind English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bengali1). This means that more than 115 million people are Russian-speaking and reside outside Russia, hence creating a potential network for the interaction in different contexts, including business. It is equally noteworthy that from the 1970s there were several waves of emigration from the USSR and post-soviet space up to date. The first wave took place in the 1970s, the second one after the collapse of the Soviet Union (1990s) and the third one relates to the most recent period of 2010s. In the light of the current global political processes, it seems that even more Russian-speaking migrants will leave their countries of origin. According to the data released by the Russian Unified Interagency Information and Statistical System, more
1 Chinese and Hindi may be ignored since they are mostly spoken in China and India and not outside these countries people left Russia in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 (RUIISS, Statistics on departures, 2022).
Although Russian language is widely used outside Russia and there were several waves of emigration from ex-USSR countries, research on entrepreneurial activity of Russian-speaking migrants has been scarce up to date and covered a limited number of contexts (Vinogradov & Gabelko, 2010; Munkejord, 2017; Vershinina & Rodgers, 2020; Elo et al., 2022). Hence, we expect to extend the existing knowledge on the topic.
Studying migrant entrepreneurship in the Canadian context seems more than relevant since Canada is the country with a significant number of migrants in its population: 8.05 mln in absolute numbers and 21.3% of the total population (IOM, World migration report, 2022). As for the number of Russophone immigrants in Canada, according to the population census (2021) reports that around 550 000 people report ethnic or cultural Russian origin and around 220 000 report it to be their mother tongue (Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021).
Additionally, choosing Canada is relevant for this particular study, as Canada is characterized by its favorable entrepreneurial culture and the existence of solid entrepreneurship support mechanisms (Kariv, 2011).
From the theoretical perspective, this research aims to contribute to studies on migrant entrepreneurship, more specifically it will fill the existing gap in conceptualization of drivers of migrant entrepreneurship.
Thus, the goal of this research is to identify what drives migrant entrepreneurship by studying a particular case of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada, one of the countries attracting a large number of immigrants.
To achieve this goal, several tasks need to be completed:
• Determine theoretical approaches that will help to understand the motives of migrant entrepreneurship;
• Conduct an interview-based empirical research on a sample of 9-10 Russophone migrant entrepreneurs;
• Analyze gathered data using the Gioia methodology (grounded theory), focusing on codes related to drivers of entrepreneurial activity and the role of institutions;
• Suggest paths for further research.
To summarize, the object of this study is migrant entrepreneurship and the subject of the study is the motives of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada. For the purposes of this study qualitative interview-based research design has been selected as our goal is to formulate the motives of migrant entrepreneurship. Moreover, qualitative design allows to gain a deeper insight into the micro-level of entrepreneurs which is connected with motivation to start businesses.
As a result of this research, we expect to contribute to the theoretical understanding of migrant entrepreneurship as well as suggest practical recommendations for host countries’ decision-makers, since migrant entrepreneurship contributes to the development of a host country's economy.
With migration flows increasing worldwide migrant entrepreneurship has become one of a rapidly developing areas of research in IB. A number of theories are used to explain drivers of migrant entrepreneurship, namely push and pull theory, mixed embeddedness theory and institutional theory. However, prior research did not provide any comprehensive explanation of migrants’ motivations to create businesses in host countries. Hence, the present study represents an attempt to create a systemic approach to explain motives behind entrepreneurial activity of migrants.
This interview-based qualitative research extends the extant research on drivers of migrant entrepreneurship by exploring an understudied group of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada. As the result of this research, we have found that Russian-speaking migrant entrepreneurs in Canada are primarily pulled into entrepreneurship by their individual characteristics such as willingness for self-fulfillment, internal locus of control, dedication, ability to identify opportunities and strategic thinking. Supportive pulling factors that increase the pulling effect of personal traits of migrant entrepreneurs are formal institutions (such as governmental support in form of loans, grants, non-governmental entrepreneurship support mechanisms) and informal ones (culture of host and home country, language). Canada has a fertile institutional ground in terms of formal institutional support as well in terms of its multicultural environment, tolerant and open towards newcomers (informal institutions). Russian language may play a pulling role for some migrant entrepreneurs, if they use it as a resource to attract talent, build partnerships with clients and suppliers. However, for some Russophone migrant entrepreneurs it can either play a minor role or be insignificant at all.
This research has contributed to the literature on migrant entrepreneurship by proposing an integrated theoretical model explaining drivers of migrant entrepreneurship as well as by identifying the drivers of migrant entrepreneurship in the case of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada.
On the practical level, this research provides insights for decision-makers in host-countries who are willing to increase the proportion of migrant entrepreneurs. The main recommendation is to invest in supporting measures such as governmental initiatives as well as stimulate non-governmental organizations to provide entrepreneurship support programs for migrants. Transparent migration procedures are also contributing to the emergence of migrant ventures. The research equally provides recommendations for potential migrant entrepreneurs. These recommendations suggest to leverage their multicultural experience to create innovative services and products as well maintain connections with their network in their home countries.
This research has its limitations due to its qualitative nature, hence further research is suggested to test the reliability of the received results. We call for longitudinal research of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs based in Canada in order to get a more complex conceptualization of drivers of migrant entrepreneurship. Additionally, quantitative research on the traits pulling migrants into entrepreneurship is recommended to understand the interrelations between those traits and the strength of the effect of different traits. We equally suggest conducting comparative studies focused on different host-country contexts, as well as on different migrant minorities. Further research on the role of gender in motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their business is another promising direction. Finally, a research focused on Canadian provincial peculiarities related to institutional support of entrepreneurship is recommended.
This interview-based qualitative research extends the extant research on drivers of migrant entrepreneurship by exploring an understudied group of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada. As the result of this research, we have found that Russian-speaking migrant entrepreneurs in Canada are primarily pulled into entrepreneurship by their individual characteristics such as willingness for self-fulfillment, internal locus of control, dedication, ability to identify opportunities and strategic thinking. Supportive pulling factors that increase the pulling effect of personal traits of migrant entrepreneurs are formal institutions (such as governmental support in form of loans, grants, non-governmental entrepreneurship support mechanisms) and informal ones (culture of host and home country, language). Canada has a fertile institutional ground in terms of formal institutional support as well in terms of its multicultural environment, tolerant and open towards newcomers (informal institutions). Russian language may play a pulling role for some migrant entrepreneurs, if they use it as a resource to attract talent, build partnerships with clients and suppliers. However, for some Russophone migrant entrepreneurs it can either play a minor role or be insignificant at all.
This research has contributed to the literature on migrant entrepreneurship by proposing an integrated theoretical model explaining drivers of migrant entrepreneurship as well as by identifying the drivers of migrant entrepreneurship in the case of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs in Canada.
On the practical level, this research provides insights for decision-makers in host-countries who are willing to increase the proportion of migrant entrepreneurs. The main recommendation is to invest in supporting measures such as governmental initiatives as well as stimulate non-governmental organizations to provide entrepreneurship support programs for migrants. Transparent migration procedures are also contributing to the emergence of migrant ventures. The research equally provides recommendations for potential migrant entrepreneurs. These recommendations suggest to leverage their multicultural experience to create innovative services and products as well maintain connections with their network in their home countries.
This research has its limitations due to its qualitative nature, hence further research is suggested to test the reliability of the received results. We call for longitudinal research of Russophone migrant entrepreneurs based in Canada in order to get a more complex conceptualization of drivers of migrant entrepreneurship. Additionally, quantitative research on the traits pulling migrants into entrepreneurship is recommended to understand the interrelations between those traits and the strength of the effect of different traits. We equally suggest conducting comparative studies focused on different host-country contexts, as well as on different migrant minorities. Further research on the role of gender in motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their business is another promising direction. Finally, a research focused on Canadian provincial peculiarities related to institutional support of entrepreneurship is recommended.