Why Immigrant Entrepreneurs are More Prone to Exit than Non-immigrant Entrepreneurs?

Abstract

Due to various cultural and social barriers, immigrant entrepreneurs are considered more vulnerable to external shocks than their non-immigrant counterparts. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the plight and pushed immigrant entrepreneurs into a more precarious situation. This study focuses on immigrant entrepreneurs as a unit of analysis and seeks to explain why and how immigrant entrepreneurs exit their businesses, how they perform differently from non-immigrant entrepreneurs, and what role culture might play in the entrepreneurial exit process. Drawing on a social psychology perspective, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the concepts of self-construals and extant research, the study develops a research framework to facilitate the understanding of immigrant entrepreneurial exit. The study argues that immigrant entrepreneurs’ exit intention and behaviour are primarily determined by their exit attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, whereas independent and interdependent self-construals that reflect one’s cultural orientations play an important moderation role between the three hypothetical determinants and exit intention. COVID-19 impact also plays an important role in influencing exit intentions. The study advances research on this largely underexplored area of immigrant entrepreneurial exit through mapping a research agenda for future research. The study also holds broader implications for public policy development, as discussed in the paper.