The Diaspora And Returnee Entrepreneurship

With increased movements of people around the world, the role of transnational economic activity is becoming ever more significant. Yet little is understood about the motivations and contribution of those who return to their homeland to undertake entrepreneurial activity. The Diaspora and Returnee Entrepreneurship analyzes the role that the diaspora play when returning as entrepreneurs to their homeland. Nick Williams investigates "returnee entrepreneurs," or people who have moved away from their home country, lived as part of the diaspora, and later returned home to live, invest, or both. Based on exhaustive research, this book examines the motivations and activities of these returnee entrepreneurs coming back to challenging homeland economies. Williams draws on evidence from the post-conflict economies of Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Montenegro, all of which are characterized by relatively weak institutional environments. His analysis shows how return to complex environments is often not based on perceived profit opportunities but is due to an emotional attachment informing investment decisions. Exploring questions of isolation versus assimilation, institutional involvement, and personal networking, the book covers more than just the policy approaches that extract higher levels of remittances and studies broad and varied approaches being used by governments around the world, specifically those in post-conflict economies. Through an in-depth study of the dynamics of return and entrepreneurship, this book shows that concerted efforts need to be made to improve perceptions of state political institutions among the diaspora to secure further assimilation, investment, and prosperity. Williams proves that by understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with diaspora return entrepreneurship, more effective strategies can, and should, be put in place.

The advancement and progression of migrant businesses has increased significantly in the globalized modern society. As such, current research has emerged regarding the characteristics of transnational economic activities. Diasporas and Transnational Entrepreneurship in Global Contexts is an essential reference publication for the latest material on the nature, process, and outcome of migrant entrepreneurs’ economic activities expanding from their countries of origin to their countries of residence. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as regional growth, industrial development, and employment generation, this book is ideally designed for researchers, advanced-level students, practitioners, managers, and policy-makers seeking current research on how economic development can be encouraged and nurtured among ethnic entrepreneurs and businesses.

With increased movements of people around the world, the role of transnational economic activity is becoming ever more significant. Yet little is understood about the motivations and contribution of those who return to their homeland to undertake entrepreneurial activity. The Diaspora and Returnee Entrepreneurship analyzes the role that the diaspora play when returning as entrepreneurs to their homeland. Nick Williams investigates "returnee entrepreneurs," or people who have moved away from their home country, lived as part of the diaspora, and later returned home to live, invest, or both. Based on exhaustive research, this book examines the motivations and activities of these returnee entrepreneurs coming back to challenging homeland economies. Williams draws on evidence from the post-conflict economies of Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Montenegro, all of which are characterized by relatively weak institutional environments. His analysis shows how return to complex environments is often not based on perceived profit opportunities but is due to an emotional attachment informing investment decisions. Exploring questions of isolation versus assimilation, institutional involvement, and personal networking, the book covers more than just the policy approaches that extract higher levels of remittances and studies broad and varied approaches being used by governments around the world, specifically those in post-conflict economies. Through an in-depth study of the dynamics of return and entrepreneurship, this book shows that concerted efforts need to be made to improve perceptions of state political institutions among the diaspora to secure further assimilation, investment, and prosperity. Williams proves that by understanding the challenges and opportunities associated with diaspora return entrepreneurship, more effective strategies can, and should, be put in place.

Diaspora Business provides interdisciplinary views and empirical research on diaspora in the global business and economy. It presents developed, emerging and developing countries and aspects from investments to institutional support.

Recent paradigms have highlighted the capacity of returnee migrants to generate developmental impacts on their countries of origin through investment of their capital. This group of migrants could contribute remotely through various channels of engagement, such as knowledge and skills transfers, financial remittances, diaspora direct investments, entrepreneurial undertakings, and diaspora networks. This case study evaluates strategies that a motivated returnee entrepreneur employed in establishing and managing her business activities in her country of origin. The case also investigates obstacles she encounters. At a crossroad, the entrepreneur is contemplating her next move, utilising her personal and entrepreneurial experiences. The choices are threefold: to remain, to retreat, or to readjust.

This book focuses on the role of immigrants in building economic, social and political relationships between countries. In this era of growing global interconnectedness, international migration and immigrant issues have become a significant source of disunity between countries. In some receiving countries, immigrants are now workforce replacements for an ageing population, while in sending countries immigrants use the experience gained in their country of residence for investment and entrepreneurial activity in their country of origin. This has led to the suggestion that immigrant activities are no longer a process of bridging the economic imbalance between nations, but rather the bridging of economic, social and political relationships.Transnational diaspora entrepreneurial activity relies on the relationship between immigrants and their home country, their understanding of the economic, political, and social systems in both their home and host countries, and the demand for their home country's cultural goods. As the demand for home cultural goods grows, there is a need to establish businesses that can operate across multiple environments. This book posits that transnational diaspora entrepreneurship can be seen as the internationalization process of immigrant entrepreneurship. It explains the role of enclaves in supporting this activity and offers valuable insights into how immigrant enclave activity and informal networking influence transnational diaspora entrepreneurship.

This contributed volume focuses on diasporans, their characteristics, networks, resources and activities in relation to international business and entrepreneurship. It presents an overview of diaspora concepts from an economic perspective, and analyzes the global-economic and societal effects and mechanisms, revealing both positive and negative aspects of diaspora activities. Providing insights into the socio-cultural influences, it discusses diaspora entrepreneurship and international business, the respective organisational models, investments and business types. Lastly it offers an assessment of managing diaspora resources and policymaking. This book was created by an interdisciplinary team of editors, co-authors and reviewers including historians, sociologists, psychologists, linguists and ethnologists, as well as experts in public policy, international business, marketing and entrepreneurship. This unique team (many of the authors are themselves diasporans with an extensive understanding of their topic) provides the first global academic platform on the subject, combining the latest empirical evidence from developing, emerging, transitional and developed countries with various combinations of diaspora flows that to date have received little attention.

Contemporary diaspora entrepreneurs (CDEs) are returned diaspora individuals engaging in entrepreneurial activities within knowledge-intensive sectors. CDEs are different from the conventional international entrepreneurs who conduct risky yet potentially rewarding business in foreign countries, the classic ethnic/immigrant entrepreneurs who run business ventures in countries of residence, and the time-honored transnational entrepreneurs in traditional business sectors. Interweaving contemporary evidence with historical analyses, the book advances a theory of contemporary diaspora entrepreneurship with substantive evidence from China, a country witnessing the most dramatic development of CDEs. It encapsulates the first attempt to fully capture the notion of contemporary diaspora entrepreneurship and its social versus economic and national versus international impacts.