Transnational Entrepreneurs: An Alternative Form of Immigrant Economic Adaptation

• Published in: American sociological review Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 278 - 298
• Main Authors: Portes, Alejandro, Guarnizo, Luis Eduardo, Haller, William J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA American Sociological Association 01.04.2002; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Business structures; Countries; Economic development; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Ethnic minorities; Human ecology and demography; Immigrant adaptation; Immigrants; Labor migration; Latin America; Latin American Cultural Groups; Latin American people; Los Angeles; Los Angeles, California; Migrant communities; Multinational corporations; New York City; New York City, New York; Rhode Island; Social Integration; Social networking; Social networks; Sociology; Sociology of migrations; Transnationalism; U.S.A; USA; Wages; Washington, D.C; Washington, DC; United States Of America; Multivariate Analysis; Integration; Latino-American; Migratory stream; Sociology of migrations; Work; Sociology of work; Entrepreneur; Ethnic community; Statistics; Transnational migration
• ISSN: 0003-1224; 1939-8271
• DOI: 10.1177/000312240206700206

The recent literature on immigrant transnationalism points to an alternative form of economic adaptation of foreign minorities in advanced societies that is based on the mobilization of their cross-country social networks. Case studies have noted the phenomenon's potential significance for immigrant integration into receiving countries and for the economic development in countries of origin. Despite their suggestive character, these studies consistently sample on the dependent variable (transnationalism), failing to establish the empirical existence of these activities beyond a few descriptive examples and their possible determinants. These issues are addressed using a survey designed explicitly for this purpose and conducted among selected Latin immigrant groups in the United States. Although immigrant transnationalism has received little attention in the mainstream sociological literature so far, it has the potential of altering the character of the new ethnic communities spawned by contemporary immigration. The empirical existence of transnationalism is examined on the basis of discriminant functions of migrant characteristics, and the relative probabilities of engaging in these kinds of activities is established based on hypotheses drawn from the literature. Implications for the sociology of immigration as well as for broader sociological theories of the economy are discussed.