Search results

This paper aims to focus on a special group of people in family firms in China, the second generation who are returnees, and to study their impact on family ownership and corporate entrepreneurship.

Survey data from China’s private enterprises in 2015 were used to test the hypotheses. Data were collected through a joint effort by the China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the School of Management of Zhejiang University. The authors used a stratified sampling method, and questionnaires were distributed to 12 provinces in East, Central and West China. Two sets of questionnaires were distributed and answered.

Compared with those family firms without second-generation returnees, the relationship between family ownership and corporate entrepreneurship is significantly enhanced in family firms that have second-generation returnees. Furthermore, compared with the second-generation returnees who stay overseas for a short time, returnees who stay overseas longer are more likely to promote corporate entrepreneurship.

This study explores the unique characteristics of second-generation returnees and explores these returnees’ impact on family ownership and corporate entrepreneurship in the Chinese context. This could generate a new value to the family entrepreneurship literature.

Policymakers, academics and practitioners have recognised the potential of returnee entrepreneurs for the transfer of advanced knowledge to emerging and developing countries. Yet what factors determine the decisions to start a business – and what type of business – upon returning to the home country is relatively unclear. This paper aims to reveal to what extent different contextual factors influence the intention to return home to start a venture. In addition to overall intentions to start a returnee business, this study covers intentions towards starting businesses with different orientations.

This study builds upon a sample of 273 individuals originating from emerging economies who are on track to complete their overseas tertiary education in an advanced economy. Using primary survey data obtained from the participants, a structural equation model (SEM) based on our theoretical model was defined for hypothesis testing.

Findings suggest that the perception of a stable institutional environment stimulates returnee entrepreneurship, and that the perception of estrangement negatively affects the intention to start a new venture in the home country. The results further show that the availability of support may reduce perceived estrangement, thereby exerting an indirect, positive effect on returnee entrepreneurship. Importantly, the findings confirm that these effects vary across intentions to start ventures with different orientations.

This study extends previous literature on the phenomenon of returnee entrepreneurs which has primarily investigated returnee-owned ventures that are already in operation. In particular, the authors provide theoretical links between institutions and other contextual factors affecting returnee entrepreneurial intentions, and this study highlights that it is meaningful to consider not only the strength but also different types of intentions. Thereby, this paper provides refined perspectives on the assumed beneficial impact of returnee entrepreneurs on the economic and societal development of emerging economies.

This study aims to intend to appraise the characteristics of returnee entrepreneurship and its contributions to development in form of transfer of knowledge and skills in the Nigerian context.

A case study approach complemented with situational observations was used. The lived experiences of two returnees were interrogated in semi-structured interviews for an in-depth analysis.

Findings illustrate the dilemmas and challenges returnee entrepreneurs from the developed host countries confronted in their entrepreneurial endeavors in the homeland.

This paper highlights the misconceptions around relocation of immigrants’ business people back to their homeland. It contributes to the growing literature on the social and economic impacts of returnee entrepreneurs (as opposed to diaspora and transnational entrepreneurs) to their homelands’ development.

Universities have become both increasingly entrepreneurial and international over the past few decades. We still, however, know little about the relationship between the two trends. This paper investigates the effect of international exposure of university faculty members on university entrepreneurial culture.

Using a specially constructed dataset of the entrepreneurial activities of 507 computer science faculty members—among whom 138 are returnees—from 21 research-intensive universities in China during 2007–2017, the study empirically investigates the relationship between foreign experience and academic entrepreneurial activity back home. We control for characteristics of the faculty member and the location of the university.

Academic tenure overseas is found to positively affect academic entrepreneurship. The length of stay abroad also affects the relationship: returnee academics with foreign Ph.D. degrees are more likely to start new businesses than returnee academics with shorter postdoc experience overseas. The economic gap between the host (foreign) and home country (China) does not have a statistically significant effect on returnee academic entrepreneurial activity.

To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to empirically investigate returnee academic entrepreneurship. It provides indications on how foreign educational background affects academics entrepreneurial activities.

As part of the mobility of global talent, returnee entrepreneurs from emerging markets with advance technology are particularly challenged by the increasing geopolitical tension. Returnee entrepreneurs have a stronger reliance on the political relationship when establishing successful business at the home countries. Yet this connection with home-country political actors can negatively affect their technology competence obtained from the host countries during geopolitical uncertainty and turbulence. We empirically investigate the challenges that technology-advanced returnee entrepreneurs encountered in the home market from the changes occurred while they were away, as well as the needs to obtain critical resource and gain market entry for adapting the advance technology possessed from aboard. Our aim, nevertheless, is to expand the discussion of the returnee entrepreneurs in the context of current world where unpredictable geopolitical tensions can jeopardize the success of their business. Our study contributes a nuanced understanding of the key factor that driving business success may turn to a trap that constrains returnee entrepreneurship, and accordingly proposes a future research agenda for returnee entrepreneurship and international human mobility in general.

Purpose – Emerging work on returnee entrepreneurs has done little to examine how these individuals coordinate the resources they need to exploit their opportunities. Existing research has recognized the role of context, but this has been quite limited. The chapter provides a novel analytical framework that integrates a resource orchestration perspective with recognition of the heterogeneity of context.

Design/Methodology – The authors build upon returnee entrepreneurship, strategic entrepreneurship theory, and theories relating to context and spillovers to distinguish the implications of temporal, institutional, social, and spatial dimensions of context for resource selection and coordination.

Findings – The authors identify a range of research themes relating to each context. The authors also discuss methodological issues relating to both qualitative and quantitative research.

Originality/Value – The intention is to spur further entrepreneurship, strategy, and international business research.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and knowledge transfer (KT) on business development (BD) as well as the moderating effect of time living abroad on returnee entrepreneurs.

The quantitative approach was used in this study to grasp and validate the conceptual framework. This research was guided by a positivist survey research technique. A structured questionnaire was used as a data collection tool, and 151 returnee entrepreneurs were involved in the study. SEM with SmartPLS was used as a data analysis tool.

The results of this study show that returnee entrepreneur’s education and KT is positively associated with BD, while the time living abroad was not proved to have a moderation effect on BD.

This study has academic and practical relevance, as it adds new knowledge and a better understanding of the role of returnee entrepreneurs in BD and expands research on returnee entrepreneurs. In terms of practical contributions, this research offers suggestions to governments, policymakers and the business community about the impact of returnee entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial ecosystems of their home countries.

This study is one of the few studies that have analysed the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ education and KT on BD by using the survey technique. The results of this empirical research are based on primary data collected via a questionnaire.

This study aims to examine the role of returning Somali diaspora entrepreneurs on firm performance and their perceived environmental obstacles.

The paper draws on a broad literature review and covers a theoretical background to develop a research framework. It presents several propositions to be empirically tested to determine the influence of returnee entrepreneurs’ success and the challenges they face in the process.

The paper offers an overview of how Somali diaspora returnee entrepreneurs can use their resources to succeed in their business and the possible environmental uncertainties that could hinder them. The study highlights some under-researched areas and provides future research directions.

A research investigation is needed to test the proposed conceptual framework empirically. Further research is also recommended to use other predictors when investigating the perceived environmental uncertainty faced by returnee entrepreneurs.

In the diaspora entrepreneurship literature, returnee entrepreneurs in post-conflict African countries did not get enough attention. Hence, the study will contribute theoretically to the literature.

The paper provides a conceptual framework that will help understand returnee entrepreneurs in post-conflict states in Africa, paving the way for empirical studies on the topic.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of returnee entrepreneurs, their venturing efforts and the impact of the institutional environment they operate in, and thereby to propose a conceptual model depicting how returnee entrepreneurs create and operate new ventures and interact with the institutional environment.

This study followed a multiple case study approach based on data collected from in-depth inquiries into 11 returnee entrepreneurs and their ventures in China which was analysed inductively.

Analysis of case study data resulted in a conceptual model of returnee entrepreneurs illustrating micro-level characteristics of the phenomenon and the interplay with the institutional environment of an emerging economy. Insights from the case study are discussed in terms of implications for entrepreneurial motivations, human and social capital, estrangement from the home country, internationalisation behaviour and objectives of returnee-owned ventures.

Previous research on the phenomenon of returnee entrepreneurs is highly fragmented and has largely focussed on specific and isolated outcomes. This study offers a holistic inquiry contributing to a better understanding of the phenomenon as a whole and presenting key properties of the phenomenon.