Rethinking Networks in Disruption: Dynamics of Embeddedness in Migrant Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The war in Ukraine triggered a wave of migration from Russia, a brain drain. It impacted global networks and embeddedness of Russian migrant entrepreneurs. As little is known about this phenomenon, our study explores how their networks become disrupted and how these entrepreneurs employ agency and resilience to redevelop their embeddedness. The study draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews of migrant entrepreneurs who migrated from Russia shortly before or after the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It shows how their relational, structural and social embeddedness dynamically evolved and how it was used to cope with the situation socially, politically and especially, economically, for identifying and developing business opportunities. While reconfiguring business networks, they spanned social and business domains both at home and in diaspora despite the war-triggered disruption. The findings contribute to entrepreneurial embeddedness, resilience and diasporic business network literature in the context of disruption.