How to attract migrant entrepreneurs to peripheral regions? Evidence from Poland

Abstract

Objective: The article aims to identify market entrance barriers faced by migrant entrepreneurs and reasons for the attractiveness of specific places when starting a business in so-called peripheral regions.

Research Design & Methods: This article presents the results of a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews, for which 21 migrant entrepreneurs were interviewed in 2019 and 2020 in Opolskie Voivodeship.

Findings: The findings suggest the respondents selected the Opolskie Voivodeship for business activities on the bases of socio-spatial embeddedness. Neither the entrepreneurial ecosystem nor the promising economic situation were identified as meaningful for starting or growing businesses.

Implications & Recommendations: Drawing on the findings, the authors developed practical implications for policymakers. Attention should be given to tools attracting migrants to peripheral regions. Established migrant entrepreneurs in peripheral regions could be integrated into a regional attraction concept and make the local ecosystem more inclusive for this group of entrepreneurs. They may be turned into practice by giving them the right to member and participate in official networks of the economic development agency or the chamber of commerce. In general, the openness of migrants to reach out to support infrastructures for business creation should be actively addressed.

Contribution & Value Added: The research fills the research gaps relating to the spatial dimension and the regional context of the presence of migrant entrepreneurs in the peripheral areas of Poland.

Keywords

Entrepreneurship, migrant entrepreneurship, migration, migration management, peripheral regions

Author Biography

Sabina Kubiciel-Lodzińska

PhD in economics (2010, Wrocław University of Economics and Business). Assistant professor at the Opole University of Technology (Poland). Her research interests include economic migrations, migrant entrepreneurship and the inclusion of refugees in the labour market.

Jolanta Maj

PhD in political science (2014, Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies University of Wrocław). Assistant professor at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology (Poland). Her research interests include diversity management and inclusion and their impact on business innovation and efficiency.

Alexandra David

PhD in management and social science (2015, University of Twente, Netherlands). Senior researcher at the Institute for Work and Technology of the Westphalian University in Germany. Her research interests focus on minority entrepreneurship and migrant entrepreneurship including migrants’ influence on innovation and regional development.

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