Conference Papers
The following papers can be downloaded in PDF format.
Helinska-Hughes, Michael Hughes, Paul Lassalle, Igor Skowron
The trajectories of Polish immigrant businesses in Scotland and the role of social capital
Conference paper, "Entrepreneurship and Growth of Family Firms”, Cracow University of Economics, June2009.
There are numerous studies which focus on entrepreneurship in Poland and they often contrast the Polish evidence with other Central Eastern European and West European Economies. These provide a wider comparative perspective, but very little is known about Polish immigrant enterprises and businesses that they set up in Western Europe in the post enlargement era. This paper endeavours to address this gap and contribute to the debate about Polish entrepreneurs. The aim of this paper is to examine the trajectories of Polish immigrant entrepreneurs starting their own business in Scotland. The research draws on comparisons with other ethnic minority businesses that have been established recently in Scotland based on the preliminary results of a pilot study conducted with Polish entrepreneurs in Glasgow.
Polish immigration since 2004 is a new and distinctive phenomenon. First, Polish immigrants do not present phenotypical differences when compared with native Scots. Second, Poles are EU citizens and do not need a visa or work permit to settle in the UK. EU membership also allows them to open bank accounts and seek finance in the UK. Consequently, this EU status affects the strategies available for Polish entrepreneurs, such as "sojourner" or diversification strategies. It is crucial to understand the reasons that "push" (inclusion obstacles in the Labour Market) or "pull" (motivation, networks) Polish immigrant into self-employment in Scotland.
The two primary features characterising ethnic minority entrepreneurs in an enclave economy are the ability to identify specific gaps in the local immigrant based market, and the capacity to exploit social capital within the community. Indeed, the immigrant has the capacity to raise resources from co-ethnics and draw upon social capital from the various networks in which the immigrant entrepreneur is embedded. However, unlike other ethnic communities mentioned in the literature, it seems that Polish entrepreneurs in Scotland do not rely on the community to seek for financial support. The primary dependence of ethnic minority entrepreneurs on the local community (acting as a niche market or enclave economy) emphasises the importance of embeddedness, and the role of social capital on business development and strategies. It also highlights the limitations for growth and ultimately survival of the Polish businesses in Scotland, and the process of adopting breakout strategies from the enclave economy to the mainstream market.
Key words: Transition and Entrepreneurship, Polish businesses in Scotland, Polish migrants post-enlargement.
Paul Lassalle
Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs: Communities, Social Capital, Actors' Strategies
Paper presented at Loughborough University, Workshop: 'EU nationals in the UK Labour force: Economic Migrants or Free-Moving Citizens of the EU?' November 2008.
Literature dealing with Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship has endeavoured to explain the specific situation of immigrant Entrepreneurs in the host country. How different are the Ethnic Minority Businesses (EMBs) from the native and white population’s businesses in the USA or in the UK? Why does an immigrant enter-self-employment? How do Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs (EMEs) raise up resources from their networks? What are the strategies pursued by EMEs?
The “push” and “pull” factors or the reasons for an immigrant to enter-self-employment are the central topic in the EMBs literature. Interestingly, the participation rates for most ethnic minority groups in self-employment in the Scotland are higher than for the white natives. Living in the context of foreignness and facing language barriers, lack of knowledge of institutional and entrepreneurial framework, as well as issues with access to finance or advice from public agencies, EMEs seem to be resourceful and prospering in Scotland. EMEs use co-ethnic ties to secure resources from their own community including finance, advice. This affects their strategies, although the role of influence of social capital on entrepreneurial activity remains complex. These ties with the co-ethnics can act as positive or negative factors (bonding and bridging social capital) and give birth to specific strategies for the EMEs such as serving co-ethnics, becoming a middleman entrepreneur or breaking-out to the mainstream market.
