Abstract

TOLEDANO, Nuria; URBANO, David  and  RIBEIRO, Domingo. Entrepreneurship and immigration: The case of Venezuelan entrepreneurs in Spain. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.45, pp.9-23. ISSN 1315-9984.

Over the past decade, international migration has become very important in European societies. The immigrants’ enterprising behaviour has attracted the attention of institutions and scholars. In this context, the main objective of the paper is to explore the entrepreneurial process among immigrants in Spain, analysing Venezuelan business owners’ experiences in Catalonia. Specifically, this paper examines why some Venezuelan immigrants established in Catalonia decide to create new firms as well as the steps they follow to begin a new business. The empirical work adopts a qualitative perspective, analysing three case studies within a theoretical framework based on the theory of Institutional Economics. The main findings show that Venezuelans’ attitudes toward entrepreneurship influence, to a great extent, the business creation process, while the immigration policy and support programs for entrepreneurship influence, especially, the start up of the business.

Keywords : Entrepreneurship; Venezuelan entrepreneur; Institutional Economics; case study; Spain.