Intercultural Experience as a Unique Facilitator of Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This study seeks to unpack some underlying factors for immigrant entrepreneurial success. Specifically, we develop an integrative framework for immigrant entrepreneurship utilizing three key pillars or building blocks: home–host cultural asymmetry (related to cultural distance), home–host cultural integration (related to cultural interface), and immigrant entrepreneurship (related to adaptive learning). Through a phenomenon-driven research approach, our study finds (1) when the home-cultural heritage and family values interface with host country's cultural values, such interface is likely to have significant effects on the process of immigrant entrepreneurship; (2) immigrant entrepreneurs may go through the same sequential stages of cultural shock and cultural adaptation that other immigrants do; (3) we further find that immigrant entrepreneurs' business success may depend on a process of effective intercultural integration, with the process of intercultural integration that may shape the microfoundations of immigrant entrepreneurship and the choice of entrepreneurial strategy. Our study contributes to the growing research streams on immigrant entrepreneurship: the specific intercultural integration for immigrant entrepreneurship and the unique microfoundations of immigrant entrepreneurship.