Navigating an environment lacking supportive government policies: The case of migrant entrepreneurs in Ghana

Peprah, Augustine Awuah and Atarah, Bede Akorige and Adegbile, Abiodun and Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele (2025) Navigating an environment lacking supportive government policies: The case of migrant entrepreneurs in Ghana. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship. ISSN 0266-2426

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Abstract

Current research suggests that effective and favourable policies in host countries are an important driver of migrant entrepreneurial activities. However, there is a dearth of knowledge about how migrants enact entrepreneurship in host countries where formal migrant entrepreneurship support is lacking. In this regard, we explore how migrant entrepreneurs navigate the lack of institutional support in host countries, with specific emphasis on the coping strategies they use. Leveraging the new institutional economics perspective and building on interviews with migrant entrepreneurs in Ghana, we unpack three phenomena that underlie the conceptualisation of weak institutional support (i.e. policy voids, nationalistic policy support, and anti-immigration sentiment) two main sources of migrant entrepreneurial apprehension (social risk and political risk) and four coping strategies for addressing apprehension (localisation, political connections, social ties and spiritualism). Our findings make important contributions to the migrant entrepreneurship literature and generate valuable implications for policy and practice.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: 10.1177/02662426251338595
Dates:
Date
Event
28 May 2025
Accepted
28 May 2025
Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: entrepreneurship support, migrant entrepreneurship, policy lacking, coping strategies
Subjects: CAH17 - business and management > CAH17-01 - business and management > CAH17-01-02 - business studies
Divisions: Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > College of Business, Digital Transformation & Entrepreneurship
Depositing User: Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited: 10 Jun 2025 14:26
Last Modified: 10 Jun 2025 14:26
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/16419

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