The culturally contingent meaning of entrepreneurship: mixed embeddedness and co-ethnic ties

Betina Szkudlarek and Shou Xin Wu

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2018, vol. 30, issue 5-6, 585-611

Abstract: This study employs phenomenography to investigate the role of embeddedness in business venturing of migrant and ethnic entrepreneurs. By focusing on two culturally distinct groups, operating in the same micro-economic context, we show the ways in which embeddedness impacts the perceptions and subsequent enactment of business venturing. Our findings demonstrate that, despite physical proximity and similar socio-economic context, the investigated communities predominantly employ their co-ethnic norms, assumptions and frames of reference to makes sense of and act upon entrepreneurial opportunities. These findings expand the mixed embeddedness literature by exploring how co-ethnic sensemaking frames persist within culturally distinct communities, despite years of co-existence within the same socio-economic context. Moreover, our study reveals how co-ethnic structures can successfully substitute institutional arrangements traditionally provided by the host-country environment. By reflecting upon the practice of entrepreneuring and entrepreneurial sensemaking, our findings point towards the importance of language and interpretative methods for theory development.

Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:entreg:v:30:y:2018:i:5-6:p:585-611

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DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2018.1432701

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