Social Capital or Ethnic Enclave Location? A Multilevel Explanation of Immigrant Business Growth

The rapid increase in migration into host countries and the growth of immigrant‐owned business enterprises has revitalized research on ethnic business. Does micro (individual)‐level social capital, or meso (group)‐level location within the ethnic enclave lead to immigrant business growth? Or do you...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thunderbird international business review 2016-09, Vol.58 (5), p.453-463
Main Authors: Zolin, Roxanne, Chang, Artemis, Yang, Xiaohua, Ho, Elly Yi-Hsuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Chinese management
Companies
Economic development
Entrepreneurship
ethnic enclave
ethnic entrepreneurship
immigrant entrepreneurship
Location
Migration
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority owned businesses
Networks
Noncitizens
Quantitative analysis
Restaurants
Social capital
social captal
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Summary:The rapid increase in migration into host countries and the growth of immigrant‐owned business enterprises has revitalized research on ethnic business. Does micro (individual)‐level social capital, or meso (group)‐level location within the ethnic enclave lead to immigrant business growth? Or do you need both? We analyze quantitative data collected from 110 Chinese restaurants in Australia, a major host country. At the micro level we find that coethnic (same ethnic group) networks are critical to the growth of an immigrant entrepreneur's business, particularly in the early years. But non‐coethnic (different ethnic group) social capital only has a positive impact on business growth for immigrant businesses outside the ethnic enclave. Our findings are relevant, not only to host‐country policymakers, but also for future immigrant business owners and ethnic community leaders trying to better understand how to promote healthy communities and sustainable economic growth. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN:1096-4762
1520-6874
DOI:10.1002/tie.21754