Title: The impact of immigrant acculturation and job search information on entrepreneurship opportunity

Authors: Michelle Ruiz; Santiago Ibarreche; Lori T. Peterson; Laura Guerrero

Addresses: University of Houston Victoria, 3007 N. Ben Wilson UN212E, Victoria, TX 77901, USA ' The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Avenue, El Paso, TX 79968-0539, USA ' Department of Management, Missouri State University, 901 S National Ave, Springfield, MO 65897, USA ' University of Houston - Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Bayou Building 3221.10 Houston, TX 77058, USA

Abstract: Fostering immigrant entrepreneurship is a key factor to building a stronger business community, yet we know very little about the many factors that influence immigrants' decision to engage in entrepreneurial activities. By focusing on how cultural context influences opportunity recognition, this paper looks at how acculturation is negatively related to business ownership in recent Mexican immigrants in the USA. The results supported both the direct negative relationship between acculturation and entrepreneurship and the moderating relationship, which weakens the relationship when the immigrant has access to a greater variety of sources of information about job opportunities. These findings contribute to research in entrepreneurship which considers the influence of the context on individual's ability and willingness to engage in entrepreneurial activities.

Keywords: international business; acculturation; entrepreneurship; immigrant; Mexican.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2017.084092

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2017 Vol.31 No.2, pp.288 - 308

Received: 17 Oct 2015
Accepted: 17 Jan 2016
Published online: 10 May 2017 *

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