Social Capital as a Resource for Migrant Entrepreneurship

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-IX

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2. Introduction

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 1-6

3. Theoretical framework

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 7-46

4. Migrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 47-64

5. Study design and methodology

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 65-92

6. Russian-speaking migrant market

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 93-173

7. Mixed market businesses

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 175-205

8. Mainstream market businesses

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 207-235

9. Transnational entrepreneurial activities (TEA)

   • Elena Sommer

   Pages 237-281

10. Conclusions of the study and outlook

    • Elena Sommer

    Pages 283-289

11. Back Matter

    Pages 291-331

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In her explorative study that is based on data from 62 qualitative interviews, Elena Sommer examines the use of social capital for entrepreneurial activities of self-employed migrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany. She analyses what type of social capital is used by migrants as a resource for the formation and development of small businesses and how entrepreneurial social networks of migrants change over time. The study illustrates that the use of business-related social relationships of the interviewed self-employed depends on the company's market strategy as well as on access to relevant social networks.

• Ethnic business
• Self-employed migrants
• Migrantenunternehmertum
• Social Networks
• Soziale Netzwerke
• Sozialkapital
• Mixed Embeddedness
• Transnational entrepreneurial activities
• Transnationale unternehmerische Tätigkeiten
• Transnational social capital
• Transnationales Sozialkapital
• Qualitative social network analysis
• Qualitative soziale Netzwerkanalyse
• Russian-speaking migrants
• Russischsprachige Migranten

• Max-Planck-Institut für Sozialrecht und Sozialpolitik, München, Germany

  Elena Sommer

Elena Sommer is a researcher and a member of the Operations Team of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE ERIC) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. Her research interests include migration and integration research, social capital and social networks, cross-national survey methodology, and intergenerational family relationships.

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