Migration and International Entrepreneurship. The Case of Western Europe

There is no standard pattern for the internationalization of entrepreneurship. Internationalization can be pushed through international trade, international investment, international networks and so on. One way of internationalization is through migration. Like any entrepreneur, an immigrant entrepreneur can be triggered by necessity or by opportunity. It is safe to assume that migration can be a trigger to entrepreneurship but there is no guarantee at all. Certain conditions have to be met. Only if this is the case there is a possibility that migrant entrepreneurship will result in a win-win for the migrants themselves and for their new host country. The countries of Western Europe used to be at the origin of large migrations. Only recently these countries have become host countries for mass immigration. This can be explained by many factors, one of them being the European Union. In this paper, literature as well as statistics are analyzed. As highly skilled immigrants have a higher probability to become entrepreneurs of opportunity and start a business, a country can augment entrepreneurship by ‘importing’ entrepreneurial talent. Visa policy can be an instrument of competition between countries in search of foreign entrepreneurial talent. Nevertheless immigrant entrepreneurs have specific needs. They need access to capital and they need to acquire skills such as the language and knowledge about local regulations. The focus in this paper is on the impact of immigrant entrepreneurship on their host country. One suggestion for further research is about the effects of emigrant entrepreneurship on their country of origin.