On the Impact of High-Tech Immigrant Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Immigrant entrepreneurship has traditionally been viewed as a mean of survival, however in the last two decades or so immigrant entrepreneurs have become more apparent in opportunity-based industries such as the high-tech and resulted in undeniable impact on host country economies. Such impact can be chiefly attributed to the status and nature of the firms operations. This impact may differ from country to country depending on a number of factors. In this paper we bring to light the limited literature on high-tech immigrant entrepreneurship and discuss three broad types of impact: 1) creating competitive and innovative businesses, 2) creating job opportunities, and 3) transnationalism. The paper draws some useful research questions aimed at triggering further scholarly investigation of this subject in future.