When Forced Migrants Go Home: The Journey of Returnee Entrepreneurs in the Post-conflict Economies of Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo

Nick Williams, Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki and Besnik A. Krasniqi

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2023, vol. 47, issue 2, 430-460

Abstract: This paper examines forced migrants who fled their homeland due to conflict and later returned to undertake entrepreneurial activity. Drawing on qualitative interviews with returnees to Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo, we contribute to the process-oriented view of entrepreneurship by showing how forced migration leads to historical bonds to the homeland which influence resultant entrepreneurial activity. We extend literature on institutional voids by demonstrating that they can be enabling, with formal voids substituted by informal networks. Returnees rely on informal ties due to mistrust of formal ties, and these are strengthened by shared experiences of conflict and lead to activities which satisfy non-monetary gains rather than profit.

Keywords: returnee entrepreneurship; forced migration; post-conflict economies; institutional voids (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:47:y:2023:i:2:p:430-460

DOI: 10.1177/10422587221082678

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