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Title: Transnational Entrepreneurs: An Alternative Form of Immigrant Economic Adaptation
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2002
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Abstract: The recent literature on immigrant transnationalism points to an alternative form of economic adaptation of foreign minorities in advanced societies, based on the mobilization of their cross-country social networks. The phenomenon has been examined mainly on the basis of case studies that note its potential significance for immigrant integration into the receiving countries and for economic development in the countries of origin. Despite their suggestive character, these studies consistently sample on the dependent variable, failing to establish the empirical existence of transnational activities beyond a few descriptive examples and their possible determinants. We address these issues on the basis of a survey designed explicitly for this purpose and conducted among selected Latin immigrant groups in the United States. Although immigrant transnationalism has received little attention in the mainstream sociological literature so far, it has the potential of altering the character of the new ethnic communities spawned by contemporary immigration. We examine the existence of transnationalism on the basis of discriminant functions of migrant characteristics and seek to establish the relative probablilities of engaging in this kind activities based on hypotheses drawn from past literature. Implications of our results for the sociology of immigration, as well as broader sociological theories of the economy are discussed.
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Authors: Guarnizo, Luis Eduardo; Haller, William J.; Portes, Alejandro
Periodical (Full): American Sociological Review
Issue: 2
Volume: 67
Pages: 278-298
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Migration and Immigration, Race and Ethnicity
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