“There are foreigners from many countries living in your country:” migrant entrepreneurship in the institutional environment of the new destination host country

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to investigate the perceived institutional barriers of migrant entrepreneurship faced in a new destination host country and the abilities of local authorities to support migrant entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

We applied the qualitative research method based on the focus group discussions. Migrants from two sub-groups (Ukrainian, n = 19 and other, n = 15) participated in four focus groups conducted between February 2023 and July 2024 in one of the cities in Poland, which constitutes a new immigrant destination country.

Findings

We found some perceived formal barriers in migrant entrepreneurship in the new destination country, similar to those of migrants regardless of their country of origin, such as language barriers, lack of comprehensive information on running a business, lack of legal and advisory support and bureaucracy. Migrants’ origin (Ukrainian vs non-Ukrainian) also influences differences in their perceived access to funding, and their stability and legal aspects of residence affect their entrepreneurial activities.

Originality/value

Our results contribute to the discussion on migrant entrepreneurship from the perspective of the new destination host country. We recognize similarities and differences in migrants’ barriers to entrepreneurship depending on their origin. We discovered nuances in the perception of institutional barriers in the context of migrant diversity and how non-Ukrainian migrants feel treated as “worse” migrants.