IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v14y2025i5p305-d1655905.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Migrant Entrepreneurs Between Colombia and Germany: Return, Strategies, and Expectations

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe Aliaga-Sáez

    (Facultad de Sociología, Universidad Santo Tomás, 1, Bogotá 110311, Colombia)

  • David Alberto García-Arango

    (Dirección de Investigación e Innovación, Universidad Autónoma del Perú, Villa El Salvador, Lima 15842, Peru)

  • Yvonne Riaño

    (Institute of Geography, University of Neuchatel, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland)

  • Jovany Sepúlveda-Aguirre

    (Dirección de Investigación Corporación Universitaria Adventista, Medellín 050031, Colombia)

  • David Betancur-Betancur

    (GIZ Colombia, Consultant, Calle 125 #19-24, Bogotá 110111, Colombia)

Abstract

There is scant literature on migrants with an entrepreneurial background and who return to their country of origin. Using a transnational theoretical approach, we seek to contribute to research in this field by analysing the return strategies and expectations of Colombian migrant entrepreneurs participating in the Programme Migration and Diaspora (PMD). This programme is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Society for International Cooperation, Eschborn, Germany) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ, Berlin, Germany). To this end, a mixed-methods study was conducted. Likert scale questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were applied to twenty-seven entrepreneurs participating in the programme, analysing quantitative and qualitative variables. Migrants seek to contribute to Colombia’s development through entrepreneurship, looking for various commercial connections for which security and planning conditions are necessary. They see entrepreneurship as sustenance, which in most cases results in transnational links between Germany and Colombia. For that to happen, contacts and acquired experiences are fundamental, as well as tangible and intangible resources, amongst which the information and support for entrepreneurship granted by GIZ stand out. Generally, it is essential to continue strengthening differentiated and comprehensive support strategies for all types of migrant entrepreneurs in destination countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Aliaga-Sáez & David Alberto García-Arango & Yvonne Riaño & Jovany Sepúlveda-Aguirre & David Betancur-Betancur, 2025. "Migrant Entrepreneurs Between Colombia and Germany: Return, Strategies, and Expectations," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:305-:d:1655905
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/305/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/305/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kevin J. A. Thomas & Christopher Inkpen, 2013. "Migration Dynamics, Entrepreneurship, and African Development: Lessons from Malawi," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 844-873, December.
    2. Filatotchev, Igor & Liu, Xiaohui & Lu, Jiangyong & Wright, Mike, 2011. "Knowledge spillovers through human mobility across national borders: Evidence from Zhongguancun Science Park in China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 453-462, April.
    3. Pruthi, Sarika, 2014. "Social ties and venture creation by returnee entrepreneurs," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1139-1152.
    4. repec:sae:mrxval:v:47:y:2013:i:4:p:844-873 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ouyang, Zhangsun & Zhang, Xinzhi & Wang, Runqun & Luo, Feng & Shen, Aiguo & Wu, Xingxin, 2010. "Typical Survey and Research on Returning-home Migrant Workers’ Entrepreneurship in Jiangxi Province under Post-financial Crisis," Asian Agricultural Research, USA-China Science and Culture Media Corporation, vol. 2(10), pages 1-4, October.
    6. repec:bla:scotjp:v:48:y:2001:i:2:p:164-78 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Barry McCormick & Jackline Wahba, 2001. "Overseas Work Experience, Savings and Entrepreneurship Amongst Return Migrants to LDCs," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 48(2), pages 164-178, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Raluca Mariana Grosu & Elena Ecaterina Nicolae, 2015. "Best practices in the field of returnee entrepreneurship," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(39), pages 799-799, May.
    2. Liu, Xiaohui & Xia, Tianjiao & Jiangyong, Lu & Lin, Daomi, 2019. "Under what institutional conditions does overseas business knowledge contribute to firm performance?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 588-602.
    3. Li Zhou & Maris Farquharson & Thomas Wing Yan Man, 2016. "Human Capital of Returnee Entrepreneurs: A Case Study in China," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(04), pages 391-418, December.
    4. Haiyan Li & Salih Zeki Ozdemir & Peter A. Heslin, 2023. "Merely Folklore? The Role of a Growth Mindset in the Taking and Timing of Entrepreneurial Actions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2077-2120, November.
    5. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2020. "Unpacking the process of overseas knowledge recontextualisation in returnee entrepreneurship - a learning perspective : a study of returnee entrepreneurs in Vietnam," OSF Preprints y5psh, Center for Open Science.
    6. Yvonne Riaño, 2023. "Migrant Entrepreneurs as Agents of Development? Geopolitical Context and Transmobility Strategies of Colombian Migrants Returning from Venezuela," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 539-562, March.
    7. Michael E. Cummings & Alan Gamlen, 2019. "Diaspora engagement institutions and venture investment activity in developing countries," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(4), pages 289-313, December.
    8. Kellee S. Tsai, 2017. "Elite Returnees in Beijing and Bangalore: Information Technology and Beyond," HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series 2017-47, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, revised Dec 2017.
    9. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Dean Yang, 2008. "International Migration, Remittances and Household Investment: Evidence from Philippine Migrants' Exchange Rate Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(528), pages 591-630, April.
    11. Wei, Hao & Yuan, Ran & Zhao, Laixun, 2020. "International talent inflow and R&D investment: Firm-level evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 32-42.
    12. Djajić, Slobodan, 2013. "Barriers to immigration and the dynamics of emigration," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 41-52.
    13. Mahé, Clothilde, 2016. "Skills and entrepreneurship: Are return migrants 'Jacks-of-all-trades'?," MERIT Working Papers 2016-071, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    14. Anda M. David, 2017. "Back to Square One: Socioeconomic Integration of Deported Migrants," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 127-154, March.
    15. Bertoli, Simone & Marchetta, Francesca, 2015. "Bringing It All Back Home – Return Migration and Fertility Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 27-40.
    16. Dhayanithy, Deepak & Mukherjee, Subhasree, 2020. "Network memory, cultural distance and the ebb and flow of international resources – Evidence from 20 years of professional player transfers to big-five European soccer leagues," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 255-266.
    17. Sarika Pruthi & Jay Mitra & Jay Mitra, 2020. "Special Issue on ‘Migrant and Transnational Entrepreneurs: International Entrepreneurship and Emerging Economies’," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 6(1), pages 7-11, January.
    18. Tiwari, Smriti, 2021. "Do macroeconomic fluctuations at destination matter in determining migrants’ return decisions?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    19. Christian Dustmann & Joseph-Simon Görlach, 2016. "The Economics of Temporary Migrations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 98-136, March.
    20. Amitrajeet Batabyal, 2010. "An analysis of adverse selection, entrepreneurial activity, and the decision to go public," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 79-90, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:305-:d:1655905. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.