Title: Female immigrant entrepreneurship: a contextual approach

Authors: Imran Sarihasan; Ádám Novotny; Natanya Meyer; Domicián Máté

Addresses: Ihrig Károly Doctoral School of Economics and Business Management, University of Debrecen, Hungary ' Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Hungary; Nord University Business School, Norway ' Department of Business Management, DHET-NRF SARChI in Entrepreneurship Education, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa ' Department of Business Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; Faculty of Engineering, Department of Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Debrecen, Hungary

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between female entrepreneurship, immigrant entrepreneurship, and the entrepreneurial context. The primary objective is to investigate the extent to which the host country's entrepreneurial context accounts for differences in the start-up rates of immigrant entrepreneurs. The lack of research on immigrant entrepreneurship makes it challenging to capture changes in this phenomenon. A quantitative approach using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data was adopted to determine the relationship between women's/men's entrepreneurship parity ratios and the degree of immigrant entrepreneurship in different countries. Linear regression (OLS) models showed that differences in female/male entrepreneurship indicators (fear of failure and early-stage entrepreneurship activity) significantly impacted the proportion of immigrant entrepreneurs in different countries. The findings suggest that immigrant women can considerably increase the proportion of new businesses in countries where women are more entrepreneurial. However, these new firms are more likely to be driven by necessity as opposed to opportunity.

Keywords: entrepreneurial context; immigrant entrepreneurship; cross-country perspective; female entrepreneurship; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; GEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2024.136343

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2024 Vol.51 No.3, pp.342 - 363

Received: 13 Aug 2020
Accepted: 12 Apr 2021
Published online: 31 Jan 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article