Elaborating On Ethnic Entrepreneurship: How Differences in Immigrant Founders’ Strategic Choices Regarding Human Capital Sourcing Affect Business Model Designs and Evolution

Abstract

Strategic human capital literature assumes founders mobilize human resources from the market. Social capital research shows that relying on nonmarket sources, such as ethnic communities, for resources results in distinct ways of organizing business activities in immigrant and nonimmigrant firms. Based on a field study, I found that the impact of sourcing human capital from the market versus the ethnic community on business model designs and evolution can be better understood by examining the nature of control firm owners exert over employees and the network segmentation dynamics of subgroups within a community. The study expands on strategic human and social capital research, identifying two boundary conditions for entrepreneurship literature.