2003/01/01 by Maria Kontos · 2 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
paper · doi:10.1080/0898562032000075131
openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper presents results from a European project on policy and migrants' entrepreneurship in Germany. It develops a concept of biographical policy evaluation by analysing the extent to which the biographical processes that have led to self-employment among migrants in individual cases correspond to those anticipated by policy. The study identifies a biographical structure composed of two phases that shape the status passage to self-employment. During these phases, personal resources are mobilized and/or attempts are made to access policy support. Self-employment policies are fragmented in that they are designed to address specific stages of the process. Migrants are often excluded from policy participation, either as a result of policy failures or through a manner of implementation that is frequently influenced by prejudices and stereotypes. Deprived of class resources and sometimes unable to utilize ethnic resources, migrant would-be entrepreneurs require public support. The ‘bridging allowance’ scheme to encourage self-employment among the unemployed currently in place in Germany (Überbrückungsgeld) could serve as a model for a more adequate support policy for non-privileged business starters that would better allow for the participation of migrants.