Great question. Probably the reality is both. Entrepreneurial people will seek out new opportunities and act upon them. Thus would include migration if better opportunities exist in other markets. We see this phenomena amongst technology entrepreneurs who relocate their businesses to the US, for example. The other subset would include migrants who face discrimination or disadvantage in access to jobs in the formal labour market. Here self- employment becomes a last resort for marginalised workers. Another interesting avenue of research is the children and grand children of migrants and how they might begin to replicate the behaviours of the indigenous population in terms of entrepreneurial activities and general labour market intersections. Equally, where large migrant populations exist e.g Indians and Polish in the UK there are new entrepreneurial opportunities only available to fellow migrants to serve these niche markets. Cheers, Marc 

Thank you Marc for your suggestions. It could be very interesting to correlate the contextual framework with migrant entrepreneurial behavior by regression analysis indeed.

According to Gem 2012, for example, in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and MENA, second generation migrants are more active in business start-ups than non-migrants. This is particularly interesting in the case of Eastern Europe and MENA, where entrepreneurship levels of second-generation migrants even exceeds that of first-generation migrants. This comparison of first and second-generation migrant entrepreneurship suggests that both immigration itself and one’s affiliation to a migrant community are associated with distinct entrepreneurial behavior. On the other hand, in the USA and Asia for instance, first-generation migrants exhibit higher TEA-rates than non-migrants, while second- generation migrants display very similar rates to the non-migrant population.This pattern emphasizes that entrepreneurial framework conditions common to particular development stages influence the prevalence of both migrant and non-migrant entrepreneurship similarly. It could be very interesting to correlate the contextual framework with migrant entrepreneurial behavior by regression analysis

Hi Valentina. Your findings are really interesting. It sounds like a great research issue. I would love to know more about your work. Cheers, Marc 

Hi Valentina, Hi Marc,

I saw your exchange with great interest. Indeed, Valentina's findings are definitely very interesting. I wonder whether this 2nd generation trend might be related to the fact that 2nd generation migrants - compared to the 1st generation migrants - are more keen to "break out" of the traditional "ethnic" market (characterized by limited opportunities of expansion) and "break through" into the mainstream economy (with greater opportunities). Indeed, since they are more accustomed to the local opportunity structures than their parents, they have got all the necessary skills to establish their activity in the mainstream sectors. Thus, could this relates to the fact that they actually may as well simply not exhibit their "ethnic" traits, which - some ways - put them in a similar starting point of the natives? You might consider to correlate the activity areas they work in to the migrants' generations.

Finally, here are - just in case - some references on the topic that you might already have come across:

• Anuradha Basu. "From 'Break Out' to 'Breakthrough': Successful Market Strategies of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in the UK" International Journal of Entrepreneurship 14 (2010): 59-8.
• Smallbone, D., Kitching, J. et Athayde, R. (2010). Ethnic diversity, entrepreneurship and competitiveness in a global city. International Small Business Journal, 28(2), 174-190.
• Kourtit, K., Nijkamp, P. et Arribas-Bel, D. (2014). Migrant Entrepreneurs as Urban ‘Health Angels’ — Contrasts in Growth Strategies. International Planning Studies, 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2014.942496

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0266242609355856

• Ensign, P.C. et Robinson, N.P. (2011). Entrepreneurs because they are immigrants or immigrants because they are entrepreneurs?: A critical examination of the relationship between the newcomers and the establishment. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 20(1), 33-53.

I hope this help and good luck with your research!

Ralph