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The role of diaspora in opportunity-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems: A mixed-methods study of Balkan economies

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Abstract

Migration is among the main factors influencing economic development in the twenty-first century. And while much research has explored the role of migration on economic growth, the role of diaspora for the development of the country-of-origin entrepreneurial ecosystems remains virtually unknown. We advance evidence that the entrepreneurial activity in a country does not depend only on the activities of the current residents but also on the ties that keep them interconnected via its diaspora to global entrepreneurial hubs and on the (intangible) resources that the diaspora makes available to local entrepreneurs. We perform a mixed-method study and provide evidence consistent with the idea that the diaspora stimulates opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity despite potential conditions of a brain drain, by contributing essential social and human capital to the resources available locally.

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Notes

  1. The regional programming talent has been continuously highlighted (Hallet 1997).

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Acknowledgements

We would like the anonymous reviewers and the editor Maribel Guerrero for their valuable feedback which helped to improved the manuscript substantially. The first author would like to thank the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung for valuable insights into mixed method studies. The first author would like to acknowledge the financial support by Colciencias through grant 121577657885.

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  1. Economics Department, Universidad del Norte, Km 5 vía Puerto Colombia, Barranquilla, Colombia

    Jana Schmutzler

  2. Jackstädt Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaussstraße 20, 42119, Wuppertal, Germany

    Jana Schmutzler

  3. School of Management, Universidad de los Andes, Calle 21 No. 1-20, Bogotá, Colombia

    Veneta Andonova & Jonathan Perez-Lopez

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Schmutzler, J., Andonova, V. & Perez-Lopez, J. The role of diaspora in opportunity-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems: A mixed-methods study of Balkan economies. Int Entrep Manag J 17, 693–729 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00708-4

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