Considering the Concept of Entrepreneurial Resources in Ethnic Business : Motivation as a Biographical Resource?

After many European countries introduced policies supporting self-employment in the 1980s, many migrants were not as successful as their native counterparts. The resources underlying policies for business starters are analyzed and existing assumptions about resources needed for entrepreneurial activity are challenged. The conception of resources underlying policy implementation has been based on a self-employment model of mainly native male entrepreneurs. The theoretical distinction between class and ethnic resources needs to be broadened by a more dynamic approach to biographical analysis. The concept of motivation as an important resource for entrepreneurship is developed using theories of Anthony Giddens and Talcott Parsons and examining the biographical narratives of self-employed migrants. The empirical basis of this study consists of the analysis of 40 biographical narratives of self-employed migrant women and men from the Rhein/Main area in Germany. The interviewees responded that the decision to become self-employed was grounded in strong motivation, either a result of biographical processes or a way of coping with "biographical conflicts and coercion." Other findings suggest that the absence of class resources is a basis for the emergence of strong motivation toward entrepreneurship, while cultural and sub-cultural experience/capital became the resource for developing business plans in a chosen field. Existing motivation potentials can be supported through an entrepreneur-friendly cultural environment, which neither idealizes nor dismisses migrant men and women. The issue of motivational resources becomes important in practices of labor administrations in Europe, aiming at extending public support to non-privileged business starters without class resources. (CBS)