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Immigrant self-employment and transnational practices: the case of Moroccanentrepreneurs in Amsterdam and MilanSolano, G.

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Download date: 09 Jun 2018

This dissertation investigates the relation-ship between transnational practices and immigrant entrepreneurship, focusing more closely on immigrant entrepreneurs who own a business spanning across bor-ders (i.e. transnational immigrant entrepre-neurship). In order to do that, it illustrates the case of Moroccan entrepreneurs in Am-sterdam and Milan.

More in particular, the study explores how those immigrant entrepreneurs who own a cross-border business identify and seize business opportunities. The goal is to under-stand how this group diverges from the gen-eral category of immigrant entrepreneurs - those focusing on the domestic market in their chosen country of immigration -, and what are the different patterns of transna-tional immigrant entrepreneurship.

Immigrant self-employment and transnational practices

The case of Moroccan entrepreneurs in Amsterdam and Milan

Giacomo Solano

Imm

igrant self-employm

ent and transnational practices: the case of Moroccan entrepreneurs in Am

sterdam and M

ilanGiacom

o Solano

Immigrant self-employment and transnational practices: the case of Moroccan entrepreneurs

in Amsterdam and Milan

Giacomo Solano

Copyright © 2016 by Giacomo Solano.All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of the author.

Cover photography: Silvia Campailla

Printing: Ipskamp Drukkers, Enschede

Immigrant self-employment and transnational

practices: the case of Moroccan entrepreneurs in

Amsterdam and Milan

ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT

ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor

aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam en

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

op gezag van de Rector Magnificus

prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom

ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie,

in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit

op vrijdag 1 april 2016, te 13:00 uur

door

Giacomo Solano

geboren te Genua, Italië

Promotiecommissie:

Promotor(es): prof. dr. V.A.J.M. Schutjens Universiteit van Amsterdamprof. dr. A.A. Andreotti Università di Milano-Bicocca

Copromotor(es): prof. dr. J.C. Rath Universiteit van Amsterdamprof. dr. T.R. Mingione Università di Milano-Bicocca

Overige leden: prof. dr. R.C. Kloosterman Universiteit van Amsterdamdr. M.T. Tasan Kok Universiteit van Amsterdamprof. dr. B.G.M. Völker Universiteit van Amsterdamprof. dr. M. Ambrosini Università di Milanoprof. dr. J.L. Molina González Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen

This thesis was prepared within the partnership between the University of Amsterdam and the University of Milan-Bicocca with the purpose of obtaining a joint doctorate de-gree. The thesis was prepared in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam and in the Department of Sociology and Social Research at the University of Milan-Bicocca.

Dit proefschrift is tot stand gekomen binnen een samenwerkingsverband tussen de Universiteit van Amsterdam en de Università di Milano-Bicocca met als doel het beha-len van een gezamenlijk doctoraat. Het proefschrift is voorbereid in de Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragswetenschappen van de Universiteit van Amsterdam en de Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale van Università di Milano-Bicocca.

University of Milan–BicoccaDepartment of Sociology anD Social reSearch

Immigrant self-employment and transnational

practices: the case of Moroccan entrepreneurs in

Amsterdam and Milan

Supervisors: Prof. Alberta AndreottiProf. Veronique SchutjensProf. Enzo MingioneProf. Jan Rath

A dissertation for the Doctoral Program in Urban and Local European Studies (URBEUR), joint degree with the University of Amsterdam

by Giacomo SolanoApril 2016

ContentsPreface 10

1 Immigrant entrepreneurship across the borders: An introduction 13

1.1 Terminology and definitions 16

1.2 Contribution to existing scientific knowledge and societal relevance 17

1.3 Research questions 19

1.4 Structure of the dissertation 20

2 Background: Globalisation, Transnationalism and Embeddedness 23

2.1 Globalisation, international migrations and the role of the State 23

2.2 Migrant transnationalism 26

2.2.1 Grounding transnationalism 30

2.3 Transnationalism, multifocality and embeddedness 31

2.4 Transnationalism and entrepreneurship (transnational entrepreneurship) 33

2.5 Main approaches to immigrant (transnational) entrepreneurship 36

2.6 A model of mixed embeddedness for transnational immigrant entrepreneurship 41

2.7 Sub-research questions 48

2.8 Conclusions 48

3 Research design: Moroccan entrepreneurs in Amsterdam and Milan 51

3.1 Why Amsterdam and Milan 52

3.2 Why Moroccan immigrants 55

3.3 Which kind of immigrant entrepreneurs 56

3.4 Methodology 56

3.4.1 Sampling strategy 58

3.4.2 The interviews 59

3.5 Sample composition and descriptive statistics 60

3.5.1 Sample 60

3.5.2 Descriptive statistics (Egos) 62

3.5.3 Descriptive statistics (Alters) 67

3.6 Conclusions 68

4 Structural embeddedness, multifocality and opportunity structure 71

4.1 Does opportunity structure always matter for the entrepreneurial activity? Dif-ferences between TIEs and DIEs 72

4.1.1 General findings 72

4.1.2 Spheres of opportunity structure 74

4.2 Places and groups: “glimpsing” across national borders? TIE characteristics compared to those of DIEs 79

4.2.1 Places: countries and spatial scales 79

4.2.2 Groups: the importance of co-nationals for business opportunities 85

4.2.3 Multifocality 85

4.3 The role of structural embeddedness in seizing business opportunities: diffe-rences between TIEs and DIEs 89

4.4 Different places and spatial scales, similar multifocality and structural embed-dedness: dissimilarities among TIEs 94

4.5 Conclusions 97

5 Relational embeddedness: Network composition and structure, and support provided 101

5.1 Business and support networks: do TIEs differ from DIEs? 102

5.1.1 Network composition 103

5.1.2 Network structure 118

5.2 Support received: the more relevant and more active role of TIE contacts com-pared to those of DIEs 123

5.3 Dissimilarities in network composition amongst TIEs 128

5.3.1 Relationship and tie strength 128

5.3.2 Groups 131

5.3.3 Spatial location of alters 132

5.3.4 Support received 134

5.4 Conclusions 134

6 Individual characteristics and their effect on structural and relational embedded-ness in identifying and seizing business opportunities 139

6.1 Entrepreneurial paths and individual characteristics 141

6.1.1 Different paths 141

6.1.2 Different paths and types of immigrant entrepreneurs 143

6.2 The characteristics of TIEs compared to those of DIEs: being multilingual, being more pro-active and having a more business-oriented education 145

6.2.1 Education 145

6.2.2 Linguistic skills 146

6.2.3 Pro-activeness 148

6.2.4 Entrepreneurial family background 148

6.3 Different profiles among TIEs 149

6.3.1 Import/export businesses vs. consultancy ones 150

6.3.2 Ethnic vs. mainstream market 151

6.4 Structural embeddedness, relational embeddedness and individual characteristics 152

6.4.1 Structural embeddedness 152

6.4.2 Relational embeddedness 153

6.5 Conclusions 155

7 Summing up: conclusions and discussion 159

7.1 Theoretical and conceptual advancements: a multifocal model 160

7.2 Immigrant entrepreneurs who run a cross-border business (TIEs) 160

7.3 Differences and similarities between TIEs and DIEs 164

7.4 Different profiles of transnational immigrant entrepreneurship 166

7.5 Some reflections on the study’s strengths, limitations, and research and policy implications 167

Bibliography 173

Appendix 199

Annex 1: Interviewees 199

Annex 2: Questionnaire 201

Annex 3: Tables Chapters 5 and 6 220

Summary 229

Samenvatting (Dutch summary) 235

Riassunto (Italian summary) 241

10

PrefACe

This dissertation is the final product of a long journey that began more than four years ago. I started the URBEUR (Urban and Local European Studies) doctoral program at the De-partment of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milan-Bicocca in November 2011. Then, in February 2014, I moved to the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) at the University of Amsterdam to complete my PhD, thanks to an agreement between the University of Amsterdam and the University of Milan-Bicocca for a joint doctoral degree.

The PhD was funded by a three-year scholarship from the Italian Ministry of Education. I also received two different scholarships (of one year in total) from the European Union in the framework of the project ‘Erasmus Placement/Erasmus+ Traineeship’, to move to Amsterdam for the final part of my research.

The research project on which this thesis is based was also awarded a further grant (Young Professional Grant - 2013) by the Fondazione Roberto Franceschi and the Fondazione Isacchi Samaja (in collaboration with Bocconi University). I wish to thank both these Foundations for the essential financial support they provided me and my research.

Such a long and important journey means that I have many people to thank for the sup-port provided throughout these years.

I am especially grateful to my supervisors, Alberta Andreotti, Enzo Mingione, Jan Rath and Veronique Schutjens. Having four supervisors might have been difficult to deal with if they had not been as supportive and professional as they were. Each of them provided unique added val-ue to my work, and they truly contributed to improving it. In particular, I wish to thank Alberta for her guidance through all the stages of my PhD. She has really contributed to my professional growth as researcher. I am also very grateful to Enzo for his support, particularly during the months of preparing the survey and in the conclusive stage of this PhD. I would like to thank Jan for his efforts in setting up the joint degree and for his help with the considerable red tape we had to deal with to make it possible. I also appreciated his brilliant and helpful comments on every draft of my dissertation. I am also very grateful to Veronique for her ever inspiring and stimulating support, and for being so kind to me from the moment I arrived in Amsterdam.

11

I also wish to express my deepest gratitude to the participants in my study, who generous-ly spent two to three hours talking with me and the other interviewers about their businesses and their lives. Without their willingness and their trust, this thesis would not have been possible.

Special thanks go to my colleagues and friends who started their PhD together with me in Milan. We have shared good and bad moments, and I am glad to be part of such a cool and uncommon group. In addition, I wish to thank Raffaele Vacca for his help, particularly for the Young Professional Grant application process.

I am also very grateful to my family, in particular my parents, for the support provided in these years. They always helped me in the course of my PhD, both emotionally and - some-times - concretely.

Finally, thank you, Marianna. I would never have been able to complete this dissertation without your loving support. You have been wonderful in so many ways, and you have helped me so many times, that your name should also be on the cover of this thesis. Again and forever, thank you so much.