International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth. Case study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

(1)

Master’s Thesis

International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth

Case Study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

Birgit Tohvrel Radboud University Nijmegen School of Management

(2)

Birgit Tohvrel s1006803 June 2020 Supervisor: dr P.J.Beckers (Radboud University Nijmegen) R. Molenkamp-Szucs (Municipality of Amsterdam) Master Human Geography Nijmegen School of Management Radboud University

(3)

International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth

Case Study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

ABSTRACT

Free movement of people in the current world has led to a situation where countries as well as regions are fighting for the attention of the most talented and skilled migrants. In order to provide the most favourable conditions, inclusive and supportive policies are introduced. Current paper is elaborating on the support policies and available systems for international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. In order to be able to make conclusions on this topic in a structured way, a research question is raised as following: What are the migration motives, business

experiences and future intentions of international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and how do the regional support systems cater to their needs?

Conceptual model is created based on four theories – location theory, cumulative causation, cultural theory and mixed embeddedness approach; which explain the migration decision and push to self-employment in the AMA. Case study on the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is chosen to understand the opinions of migrant entrepreneurs in this specific region in order to be able to make conclusions how to better the support service provision. Mixed methods approach is adopted for the data collection and analysis. The required data is gathered through desk research on previous literature, municipality policy documents, online survey data from international entrepreneurs and seven individual interview responses.

The results of the study showed that the entrepreneurs often have personal factors, like family members, which influence their location decision, however also the attractiveness of the destination region is valued. The start of self-employment is characterised mainly by the individual motivation to achieve goals. Entrepreneurs see their companies’ future in the AMA as the region is attractive for business establishment. Study showed that there are quite large amount of available public support resources in the region, however, the problem is in the awareness of entrepreneurs and the methods how this support and knowledge is provided to the starting business owners.

KEYWORDS: Migrant entrepreneurs, Small businesses, Inclusive policies, Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

(4)

1. INTRODUCTION

The globalization process has resulted in the integration of world markets, and furthermore has brought to a situation where modern open society is experiencing wide range of movement in knowledge, skills and people. Based on the report from Global Commission on International Migration (2005) there are around 200 million people who can be considered as international migrants living outside their home country at least one year, this shows that 3% of the world population are migrants (p.1-5). Recently there have been noted changes in the patterns of human migration. One important change is that the migration phenomena is seen more to have a global scope, as both receiving as well as source countries have multiplied (Castles, de Haas and Miller, 2014). Second important aspect is that within migrant population there are also relatively wealthy people, which cut out the only reason of migration as a look out for better economic opportunities (Gregory et al., 2009).

The change of migrants being more wealthy and skilful has created a different way of seeing migrants within receiving countries. Countries are creating methods to attract the most skilled migrants within destination countries (Gregory et al., 2009). For example, Canada and Australia have implemented points systems, where future immigrants have a chance to enter the country based on their qualities (Samers & Collyer, 2017). Furthermore, most of the Western countries have specific integration policies at place which specify the expected method of integration to the country. The USA and France support migrants assimilation, give rights and even a chance to apply for citizenship when migrants fit into the local culture. While, countries like Australia and Canada which policies are concentring on multiculturalism, meaning the migrants have rights and chance to become citizens relatively easily and there are accepted identities from different cultures (Gregory et al., 2009).

During past years, there is a noticeable trend of employment shift from big companies into small firms and start-ups. Characteristic for this is mainly due to changes in supply and demand. For example, the information technology development has given a chance to small-businesses to own computers. Furthermore, big corporations have often bureaucratic barriers which preclude of following quick market changes or implementing innovations, therefore they need to outsource some of their activities to smaller firms (Kloosterman & van der Leun, 1999). From 1985, the small-businesses amount in the Netherlands has been increasing every year (Kloosterman & van

(7)

der Leun, 1999). This structure is largely beneficial for migrants who are more likely to start self-employment compared to the natives (Baycan-Levent & Nijkamp, 2009). Since 1980s migrants’ self-employment rates in the Netherlands have increased, one out of five new firms is launched by a migrant entrepreneur, resulting in a situation where there are relatively more migrant entrepreneurs than natives (Nijkamp, Sahin & Baycan-Levent, 2010). Immigrants often have a chance to enter to self-employment due to the ethnical market opportunities (Kloosterman, 2003). International, ethnically diverse and creative cities tend to be economically successful and fast growing. These qualities attract well-educated and talented population (Musterd & Salet, 2003). Amsterdam is one of the Dutch cities, which can be described as a diverse, multicultural city. The Dutch capital is known for the high number of residents from “non-Dutch” origin, attracting each year new residents from all over the world. Amsterdam is attractive and successful business centre and its popularity is characterized by relatively highly skilled and educated population, good accessibility to worldwide markets and well established infrastructure. Furthermore, the city has many cultural facilities, green spaces, open and multicultural environment and historic city centre of Amsterdam (Musterd & Salet, 2003). All of the previous leads to a situation where many internationals have a desire to relocate to the Amsterdam Area in order to be part of this culture and environment. Transformation of the city of Amsterdam into a creative business centre for white-collar professionals has been largely a policy aim of the local municipality (Foner, 2014).

High number of migrant entrepreneurs in the Netherlands and attractiveness of the region of Amsterdam can be seen as one of the starting point for this paper’s research topic. Current research is concentrating on the international entrepreneurs who have moved to the Netherlands, specifically to the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and have decided to start a business in the region. Concentration is on the one-man and small-scale businesses, excluding big international corporations. Aim is to understand small entrepreneurs’ experiences in being a business owner in a foreign country in order to find out how local policies are supporting their journey. The final goal is to specify the problems and gaps in the service provision by the municipality and organisations in Amsterdam in order to make improvements for the future potential entrepreneurs. The following sub-chapter reveals the research topic in a more complete manner as well as introduces the research questions, which will lead to the desired results.

(8)

1.1. Research objective and questions

Migrants’ businesses have a great impact on city’s development and job creation. Cities shall see the advancement of support towards migrant entrepreneurs as an investment strategy for enhancing their economy. Municipalities with the most clear and favourable services attract the most profitable businesses and talented employees.

Starting a business in the foreign land is relatively more difficult than doing it as a native entrepreneur. For example, migrants have to find their own financial support and they often lack of knowledge about legal matters in the host country. Foreign language is seen as a barrier since most of the regulations and bureaucracy matters are explained in local language.

Previous leads to this paper’s research objective, which is aiming to analyse the journey that international migrant entrepreneurs are experiencing when starting their businesses in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. More specifically, main emphasis is on the support schemes, services and policies that different organisations are offering for the migrant entrepreneurs. The aim is to have in depth information how satisfied the international entrepreneurs are about support schemes provided for them in order to create better and more efficient service provision for the future internationals.

First goal is to specify the reasons why migrants have decided to move and start self-employment at the Amsterdam Area and how they see their company’s future. Second goal is to understand current situation between the support provision of the public organisations and the expectations of the entrepreneurs. It is important to understand what is already available and on what level it is reachable for the starting business owners, in order to single out the differences and gaps, which are created between the mismatch of the support schemes and expectations from the migrants in order to find ways how to improve the assistance of new businesses.

In order to guide the research in a structured way and complete the previously mentioned goals, one main research question, backed up with four sub-questions is created. Therefore, the main research question is following:

What are the migration motives, business experiences and future intentions of international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and how do the regional support systems cater to their needs?

(9)

The main research question is divided into four sub-questions:

1) What are the migration motives and business experiences of international entrepreneurs and which factors influence the choice of the AMA for their business activity?

Current sub-question focuses on the personal background of migrants as well as their companies’ characteristics. Furthermore, examines the reasons why international migrant entrepreneurs have chosen the AMA as a region to migrate to and whether they have planned to start business activities in the region beforehand. The motivations which have influenced migrants to start businesses in the area are studied in more detail and the goal is to find out if the local business climate has an effect on the location choices.

2) What are the future intentions of the international migrant entrepreneurs regarding their companies?

The second sub-question is devoted to finding out the future intentions of the migrant entrepreneurs. Whether they are planning to stay in the country for a longer period of time, if they aim to grow their company (internationally) and what are their future plans regarding the employment of members? This question also focuses on the factors that are influencing the business owner(s) to leave or stay in the region.

3) What are the experiences of the international entrepreneurs with the support services that they have used in the AMA?

In the third sub-question, current available services and support schemes towards migrant entrepreneurs provided by facilities and organisations in the AMA are identified. The goal is to have an insight to what extent the entrepreneurs are aware of the possibilities of support provided to them and whether they are keen to use these services. What kind of support did they receive while starting their business and what do they think of the help that they received? The aim is to understand the availability of information about support services and receive an evaluation of the provided services.

(10)

4) What are the main expectations of the international entrepreneurs and how do the regional support schemes cater to their needs?

The last sub-question explores the expectations of the entrepreneurs towards the municipalities’ support. Firstly, the assumptions that the entrepreneurs had, before moving to the region, are questioned. What kind of support would an entrepreneur expect in a foreign destination country? Secondly, after the migration has taken place and the entrepreneurs have familiarized themselves with the region, the current opinions are studied. Whether entrepreneurs have any additional suggestions to organisations?

The main goal is to find out the support that the public institutions are providing and compare it to the needs of entrepreneurs, in order to evaluate whether the primary necessities of migrants were satisfied and to discover the gaps between expectations and actual support schemes.

1.2. Scientific and societal relevance

Current sub-chapter gives an explanations why this study is relevant scientifically as well as socially. Firstly, the scientific relevance is elaborated while referring to existing literature on the field and secondly, societal relevance is introduced.

1.2.1. Scientific relevance

Previous studies on migrant entrepreneurship are concentrating on the impact that migrants have on host societies, like a research in Amsterdam and Rotterdam neighbourhoods by Kloosterman and van der Leun (1999) confirms. Another theme is exploring the success factors of migrants’ businesses, Beckers and Blumberg research on differences between first- and second-generation migrant entrepreneurs’ business successes (2013). Achievement factors of migrants are also looked through the comparison with native entrepreneurs. Efendic, Anderson and Wennberg did such a research in Sweden while they questioned over 50,000 small businesses (2016). Current thesis is taking the positive impact of the entrepreneurs for the host society as a base and is concentrating solely on migrants in general without making any comparisons with natives neither within migrant groups. While existing literature tends to take a specific migrant group as a base for research, as Ghanaians in the Netherlands (Kloosterman, Rusinovic & Yeboah, 2016), Bolivians and Ethiopians in Washington DC (Price & Chacko, 2009), current research admits all

(11)

groups of migrants as one regardless their ethnic background and concentrates on the ways of the entry into the business environment.

Rath and Swagerman have conducted a research about promotion of entrepreneurship in a number of European cities. They concentrated on policies as well as other interventions such as support schemes and organisations towards entrepreneurship in general and specifically migrant self-employment. Study concluded that economic support for migrants is not a self-evident policy option in the most of the studied cities (2015). Therefore, concentration on one region gives an opportunity to go into depth.

1.2.2. Societal relevance

Migrant entrepreneurship is beneficial for the host country and especially for the cities where companies locate. Entrepreneurship in general decreases unemployment rates, creates new job openings and revives cities’ economy. Competition between states to attract the most highly skilled migrants that includes entrepreneurs is tight. The recent decision of England to leave the European Union creates a situation where currently appealing European big city London is not so favourable for the international talents, entrepreneurs and companies, creating an advantage for the other European cities to attract the talent.

Although the demand for skilled internationals is high, the migrants themselves are experiencing difficulties while integrating into a foreign society. Favell (2008) brings out obstacles that migrants are facing in Amsterdam. In the beginning, they hope to find a tolerant, cosmopolitan and open city, as Amsterdam’s image states. After some years living in the city the internationals are still struggling with “making and not making Dutch friends; dealing with Dutch bureaucracy; getting used to their personal habits; facing abuse on the streets; getting ripped off by landlords, or scrambling with hundreds of others for non-existent accommodation; failing to learn the language” (Favell, 2008, p.186-187).

Besides personal integration difficulties to the new society, international entrepreneurs are often facing hardships while establishing their businesses because of the unfamiliar regulations and permits, lack of connections in the new country, language barriers etc.

Part of the Municipality of Amsterdam is a department Amsterdam International Business including IN Amsterdam, which one goal is to create appealing environment for the entrepreneurs, international companies and for their skilled employees. IN Amsterdam, established in 2008, is a department of the Municipality of Amsterdam, located in the World Trade Centre Amsterdam. IN

(12)

Amsterdam “provides a one-stop-shop service” for the internationals who are coming to the Amsterdam Area. Department is concentrating especially on skilled, entrepreneurial migrants and international graduates (Iamsterdam, 2020a).

Current research is concentrating on the support schemes aimed for international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. The goal is to get the opinion of the entrepreneurs about the gaps of the service provision in order to establish a better, welcoming and more appealing environment for the future newcomers.

(13)

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Current chapter is elaborating existing literature on the field of migration and business creation, while introducing relevant terminology and presenting literature on the field of migrant entrepreneurship and inclusive policy-making. Furthermore, the chapter is concentrating on the four theories: location theory, cumulative causation, cultural theory and mixed embeddedness. In the last sub-chapter, the four theories are explained as a conceptual model for this research.

2.1. Migration and migrant entrepreneurship

Migration means change of residence for an individual or a group of people from one location to another. It is different from tourism or other short-term movements in the sense that the phenomenon migration indicates to a residential relocation (Gregory et al., 2009). Based on the most prevalent definition migrants are people who have been staying abroad for at least 12 months period. Currently approximately 3% of the world’s population can be classified as a migrant (Baycan-Levent & Nijkamp, 2009) and this trend has been constant over the past half a century.

There are several ways to categorize migrants. Long-term migrants can be differentiated from sojourners or expats who change their place of habitat for temporary purposes, which often is related to relocation for employment. Voluntary migrants differ from refugees as the first ones are making their decision to move voluntarily while refugees do not have a chance to choose (Gregory et al., 2009). Separation is also made based on the skillset, low-skilled migrants from less-developed countries face high barriers on labour markets, as they often do not speak local language, lack of education and skills required for the employment (Kloosterman & Rath, 2001), whereas highly-skilled migrants are more in a privileged position, having the education and networks form their origin country. Despite the advantages, even highly skilled migrants tend to have trouble in their destination country, like obstacles on finding jobs, experiences of racism and exclusion (Samers & Collyer, 2017). There is a trend that highly skilled migrants from developing countries are moving to advanced economies in search of a better life quality (Kloosterman & Rath, 2001). For example, AnnaLee Saxenian (2002) remarked in her research that highly skilled migrants from Asian countries are a growing trend in Silicon Valley.

Despite the global trends of markets, the opportunities for entrepreneurs between advanced countries and even within one state are varied (Kloosterman & Rath, 2001). Therefore, one could assume that the location-based decision making of migrants is not accidental. Migration can take

(14)

place because of various motives, international recruitment of multinational companies, a personal wish for better income and quality of life or to support relatives in a less developed country. Besides the mentioned prevalent reasons, there are new factors, like international networks of people, development of migration support services and change in employment trends (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci & Taylor, 1993).

Furthermore, when it comes to highly skilled migrants, the receiving country’s city environment is important. In the Netherlands, a research of highly skilled workers has shown that they tend to choose areas in the city centre with many urban opportunity structures. The accessibility of work and schools for their children is also considered as an important factor while choosing the neighbourhood within the city (Beckers & Boschman, 2017).

2.1.1. Migrant entrepreneurship

Based on the United Nations (1999) definition self-employed migrant is someone, “who is engaged in a remunerated activity otherwise than under a contract of employment and who earns his or her living through this activity” (pp. 877). Immigrant entrepreneurship refers to people who have migrated from their home country during the past decades (Volery, 2007) and started self-employment or entrepreneurship in new location. Job market and payroll rate inequalities towards migrants in host countries lead to an increased amount of ethnic minorities who start to search possibilities on the self-employment field (Nijkamp, Sahin & Baycan-Levent, 2010; Kloosterman, 2003) which leads to a phenomenon migrant entrepreneurship. There is noted a positive correlation between immigrant background and characteristic traits to become a self-employed (Bearse, 1987). Ethnic entrepreneurship phenomena refers to a group of migrants who are connected with the fact that they have same national background, they have common interaction and cultural habits. ‘Ethnic’ is also used as immigrant entrepreneurship, but the first one includes all of the ‘ethnic group’ members, also the ones from second-generations or even further, but the immigrant entrepreneurship implies only for the people who recently have migrated from their home country (Volery, 2007). In the beginning, migration was rather a short-term phenomenon in order to fulfil the employment purposes. Later on, as the migrants started to settle in the new countries, the need for ethnic entrepreneurship started to rise as well (Volery, 2007).

Difficulty in finding a job in a destination country is seen as one of the most prevalent reasons for the migrants to step into the self-employment. For example, relatively high amount of Bolivian and Ethiopian migrants in Washington DC have created an ethnic community of their

(15)

own restaurants, bars and shops, because of the job market restrictions (Price & Chacko, 2009). Migrant entrepreneurs differ from the local residents as they often have restricted resources; firstly, the entrepreneur needs to have right resources in order to be part of the competitive market. Most common problem is financial capability to start a business. Entrepreneurs, especially international ones lack of finance to start themselves and it is difficult to migrants to gain access to finances. Often those entrepreneurs are forced to start rather a small-scale business, which does not need a high capital investment. Another important resource for successful business creation is human capital - the skills and knowledge (Kloosterman, 2010). Many of the internationals are pushed into entrepreneurship activity in the low-end– catering, corner ship retailing etc. As there is lack of job opportunities on the market, the self-employment is only solution (McPherson, 2017).

Samers and Collyer (2017) argue in the difference in terms of ‘ethnic’ and ‘immigrant’ entrepreneurship. They note that ‘ethnic’ can be described rather for the migrants who are facing disadvantages on the job-market and in availability of resources which lead to a creation of rather informal businesses, as ethnic restaurant, shops, salons etc. As described also by European Commission (2008), an ‘ethnic’ business is targeted towards a closed migrant group and is reliant on that specific ethnicity. Meanwhile, ‘immigrant businesses’ are managed by migrants who are rather reluctant to establish a formal business (Samers and Collyer, 2017); therefore those companies are operating on the open market (European Commission, 2008). Furthermore, recent trends prove how migrant established businesses can be relatively big and in a knowledge intensive field (European, Commission, 2008), which abolishes the popular opinion of migrant businesses as non-successful and struggling enterprises.

Based on the difference in meaning of ‘ethnic’ and ‘immigrant’ businesses, a connection can be created between the notions of low-skilled and highly skilled migrants. Whereas the first group can be categorized as the ethnic entrepreneurs while the latter ones’ can be considered as immigrant entrepreneurs creating businesses which require higher level of knowledge, like Asian engineers in Silicon Valley who establish technology businesses (Saxenian, 2002). For example, starting a hairdresser shop is not as knowledge intensive as consultancy service or innovative Silicon Valley start-up (Kloosterman, 2010).

Furthermore, distinction of (migrant) companies can be made based on the size of the business. OECD categorises small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) based on the size into three groups: micro, small and medium sized companies. Micro businesses generally have

(16)

maximum of ten employees, small firms are considered to be with 50 people and all of the companies until 250 workers are categorized to medium-sized company. More than 250 employees are considered as large enterprises. The previous numbers are present in the EU countries; however, those employee numbers can be slightly different based on the country. For example, USA considers all of the business until 500 employees as SMEs (OECD, 2005). Furthermore, there are multinational corporations, which have their business activities at least in two countries; these companies can have hundreds of thousands of employees around the world (Smelser & Baltes, 2001, pp. 10197).

The change from industrial to post-industrial economy has increased the small businesses amount (Kloosterman, 2010). Due to recent structural developments, multinational corporations are delegating more of their operations, like accounting, recruitment etc. to smaller firms. Furthermore, the demand market is fragmented, thus customers look for specific products and not for mainstream mass-production. The demand for alternative products creates an opening on the market for small businesses, and furthermore this situation gives an opportunity for migrants to enter to self-employment (Kloosterman & Rath, 2001).

2.1.2. Inclusive policies

As stated by European Commission, the term ‘immigrant entrepreneurship’ can be differentiated from a local business by the fact that the founder is a migrant (European Commission, 2008). Therefore, aside from the local entrepreneurship regulations, countries should pay particular attention towards the migrant businesses’ policies. The regulations and policies from host society serve important role in the development of self-employment among ethnic groups and migrants (Razin, 2002).

Studies have confirmed that immigration is resulting in an economic growth for the host society (Dicken, 2015, p.351; Wang, 2012; Bearse, 1987). Entrepreneurs from different ethnic backgrounds introduce diverse management skills, bring innovation in services, create social cohesion, solve social problems, and establish employment options for natives and for ethnic minority groups (Nijkamp, Sahin & Baycan-Levent, 2010). Overall self-employment has a major impact on creating possibilities for young people and keeping them away from unemployment (Kontos, 2003). Migrant communities in developed countries create a favourable opportunity for entrepreneurs to start their businesses. Based on the recent trends, it is expected that in the future migrant entrepreneurship is going to have an even greater impact for host countries (Lintner, 2015).

(17)

As previously, mentioned Asian engineers creating new businesses in Silicon Valley bring economic growth and new jobs as well as support California to be part of the global economy (Saxenian, 2002). Efendic, Andersson and Wennberg (2016) found that „firms run by second-generation immigrants from OECD countries exhibit higher growth than firms run by native CEOs” (p. 1048).

Although there are many positive aspects of migrant entrepreneurship for the host countries, migrants themselves have trouble while initiating the business in foreign country. New regulations, cultural values, lack of entrepreneurship skills and obstacles while getting financial support make the road to self-employment tough for business owners (OECD, 2013). Migrant entrepreneurs are often not aware of the bureaucratic rules (European Commission, 2016) and need to find their business finances through informal methods, while natives are supported by the national banks. Ethnic entrepreneurs often try to find support from people from their own ethnicity, which is due to lack of knowledge and mistrust towards local organisation (European Commission, 2016). Migrants have to work in risky business environments since they are not familiar with the local market regulations. It leads to a situation where migrant entrepreneurs tend to concentrate on traditional market segments and cannot use their full skill potentials (Nijkamp, Sahin & Baycan-Levent, 2010).

In political arena, the debate about the effects of migration for receiving and sending societies has intensively increased, becoming one of the central issues since the mid-1980s (Castles, de Haas & Miller, 2014, p.17). Traditionally, there were created inclusive entrepreneurship policies towards privileged groups, those who already had resources, like finance and human capital (Kontos, 2003). Migrants were seen as a cheap workforce and policies were developed according to this statement (Lintner, 2015). However, currently policies towards migrant entrepreneurship should rather be seen as an opportunity structures, and not only as a regulatory mechanisms (Kontos, 2003).

Policies in receiving countries are often viewed as a method for dealing with the problems that old industrialized countries are facing. There are two main matters which lead to attraction of labour migrants, firstly the increasing need for highly skilled workers and secondly, the aging society which means that there is higher need for working age people (Dicken, 2015, p.349-351). However, recently governments in some developed countries have started to put attention towards the positive impact of migrant entrepreneurship (Lintner, 2015).

(18)

Recent years OECD countries have developed inclusive policies phenomenon, which puts more emphasis on minority groups, like youth, women, disabled, ethnic minority groups and immigrants in order to make self-employment and entrepreneurship options available for them. Inclusive entrepreneurship policies concentrate on making business advice, self-employment options, skills and knowledge upgrade equally disposable for everyone within a society. It is important that everyone, no matter their background or characteristics, should have same opportunities to start their own business (OECD, 2013). On European level, European Commission manages migrant entrepreneurship promotion, but actual policies are invented in nation states (Rath and Swagerman, 2015). From 1980s, the Dutch municipalities have put on the emphasis of the policies towards entrepreneurship, including migrant self-employment promotion (Kloosterman, 2003).

2.2. Location theory

Location theory originates from the general economic theory emphasizing the importance of minimising the cost and maximising the profit (Beckmann, 1968; Shieh, 1983). The neoclassical location theory emphasises the importance of transport and labour costs as the reason behind firm location decisions. Entrepreneurs are making only rational decision based on earning profit and any problems can be solved by changing the business structure (Pellenbarg, 2002). The industrial location theory is emphasising on two main criterions: the organisational factors have an important scale and the distinction between spatial and non-spatial elements. (Krumme, 1969a).

The principles of the neoclassical theory were criticised by the behaviourists, who stated that the extreme rationality is not possible. (Massey, 1973). Behavioural location theory takes into account the personal preferences of entrepreneurs and indicates that the decision-making process is not completely based on increasing the economic advantages (van Dijk and Pellenbarg, 2000). Massey (1973) criticises the industrial (classical) location theory, emphasising the similarity to the classical economic theory. The main point is that the neoclassical location theory is not taking into consideration the spatial dimension of the economy. In order to effectively analyse the spatial factors need to be included in all forms of economic analyses (Massey, 1973). The decision to locate a firm to a specific region can be influenced also by entrepreneurs’ personal preferences. For this reason, if the study is including personal preferences as well, then the fact that one locality has economic advantage cannot be stated. Besides, the personal factors as one’s education and

(19)

traditions may have an influence to make a decision regarding the location as well as the functions of the company combined. The distinction between purely economic decision-making and the personal preferences of the entrepreneurs cannot be distinguished by a study of survey and an interview (Krumme, 1969b).

After the 1950s, the location theory started to include the factors, which were primarily seen as having a secondary importance. Factors as the proximity of suppliers and customers, specialised labour market and the accessibility to service providers and facilities started to have a higher impact on the location decisions of the firms. The development of the infrastructure and the mobility of people supported the decrease of transportation and labour costs to be seen as the primary factors (Pellenbarg, 2002).

Figure 2.1. Changing location factors (Pellenbarg, 2002)

From the 1990s onwards, the new course of location factors, called as tertiary factors, emerged from the empirical location studies. The factors, which are seen as the main location choice influencers for the most recent years, are the availability of technology and knowledge, the quality of life as availability of housing and public transport, the reputation of the business centre, the supportive government policies and many more (Pellenbarg, 2002).

(20)

2.3. Cumulative causation

Cumulative causation explains the phenomenon how initial migration boosts the probability of future migration, therefore through time the migration flows start to increase (Massey & Espana, 1987; Massey, 1990; Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Taylor, 1994; Fussel & Massey, 2004). Each migrant motivates and encourages further migrations. For future migrants the movement and settlement process is made more clear and easier, as the primary migrants have made the relevant information available in the destination (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Taylor, 1994). The networks created by migrants between the receiving and sending country establish a connection, which brings two countries closer together (Massey & Espana, 1987).

Long-term migration often leads to a settlement in the destination country, as migrant is growing their networks and creating connections with locals. One migrant decreases the cost of risks for their network of relatives and friends to move to another country, by being able to share the knowledge of the process as well as the connections abroad. After the migration of these connections, the amount of people who have network abroad develops even more (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Taylor, 1994).

On the economic level, improvement in the employment options creates migration, while highly skilled migrants create further employment growth, which results in increased international mobility, therefore creating a cumulative causation for migration. Advanced economies rather attract highly skilled and well-educated migrants who can have an improved quality of life in a destination country. Situation creates further international movement of highly skilled migrants to the destination country while the sending country is experiencing higher emigration rate of the educated class (Massey, 1990).

Cumulative migration creates a new culture in the destination place, while people from different cultural backgrounds and various ideas come to live together; they establish a complex transnational culture. Furthermore, the new transnational culture attracts new migrants who desire to be part of this lifestyle. Migrants tend to live a certain type of life in an advanced economy, where they can allow themselves to enjoy urban opportunities, buy goods and invest in property (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Taylor, 1994).

At the individual level, there is a tendency for the ones who already have settled in a new country to migrate in the future again. As during the migration process, they have learned new skills and obtained knowledge, which is required for finding a job and a living place, overall

(21)

settlement in a new place. The new knowledge reduces the risks of movement to another destination. During the process of migration to more advanced economies, a person acquires new motivations and expectations for a quality of life. Therefore, future migration is likely if there is an option to better their condition (Massey, Arango, Hugo, Kouaouci, Taylor, 1994).

2.4. Cultural theory

Cultural theory in international migration context proposes that migrants have individual characteristics which encourage them to start self-employment and lead them to be successful (Masurel, Nijkamp, Vindigni, 2004; Volery, 2007). Migrants tend to be hard working and dedicated to their responsibilities; they often tolerate risky situations and are able to settle in different situations. Previously mentioned qualities are one of the reasons that support migrants towards entrepreneurial activity (Masurel et al., 2004).

Migrants tend to understand their own ethnic cultural values only after moving abroad, which can lead to an opportunity of innovative business creation in the destination country (Volery, 2007).

2.5. Mixed embeddedness

Ethnic resources and opportunity structures are bases for the development of the mixed embeddedness model (Volery, 2007). Mixed embeddedness emphasises the importance of social, economic and institutional factors in the decision of migrant self-employment. Meaning that migrants decision to become an entrepreneur is influenced, firstly, by social and cultural background, like “their own social identities, human capital endowment, personal values and aspirations, and family backgrounds” (Wang, 2012, p. 233) and, secondly, by economic and institutional factors of the receiving country. The opportunity structures for opening a business in local as well as national level are defined by conditions of welfare system, market characters, institutional regulations, support organisations and the quality of life for citizens (Kloosterman et al, 1999)

The opportunity structures at the lower end are present even in the advanced states. The available markets are seen as an important factor of the opportunity structures (Kloosterman, 2010). There can be categorized two main reasons for the openings for the migrant entrepreneurs. Firstly,

(22)

the areas with a higher amount of migrants have the demand for ethnic products and services, like their local food products and clothing. Secondly, local entrepreneurs tend to leave the ethnic areas, creating opportunities for migrants to start their businesses (Kloosterman et al, 1999).

The concept sees a local economy and legal-institutions as having a high influence on the creation of businesses and even greater effect on migrants’ business access. Model emphasizes the spatial differences occurring in a nation state, since economic environment can vary extensively between regions (Volery, 2007). Socio-cultural as well as economic and institutional factors have both a crucial impact on migrant entrepreneurship (Kloosterman et al, 1999)

The mixed embeddedness model has three assumptions. Firstly, opportunities cannot be prevented by government regulations; secondly, opportunities have to be seen as beneficial for potential entrepreneurs; thirdly, a business opportunity has to be veritable for the entrepreneurs (Volery, 2007).

The model describes well the migrants’ embeddedness in the Netherlands. The international entrepreneurs are usually located in the areas with higher population of migrants; however, due to Dutch immigration policies throughout the history, the neighbourhoods tend to be ethnically diverse. The variety in nationalities creates a situation where entrepreneurs have decreased possibility to concentrate their business activity on an ethnic product. As a result, migrant entrepreneurs are more embedded in the Dutch market and society (Kloosterman et al, 1999).

2.6. Conceptual model

Conceptual model for this research is based on four theoretical approaches: location theory, cumulative causation, mixed embeddedness and cultural theory. The first two explain the migrants’ decision to move to Amsterdam Area and the latter ones give a reasoning to the decision to start self-employment in the region.

As discussed previously, location theory explains factors that influence migrants to decide a certain area for relocation. Current research is concentrating on the Amsterdam Area, therefore features like accessibility of services and facilities, availability of technology and knowledge in the AMA and furthermore, overall good reputation of the region and supportive government policies can be the reasoning why international people have chosen this region. As the Netherlands has been immigration country since 1960s (Bontje et al., 2009) and Amsterdam has relatively more

(23)

non-Dutch people compared to the locals (OIS, 2019), then the cumulative causation, stating that migration creates further migration, is explaining another aspect of choosing the AMA as a destination region.

Mixed embeddedness approach explains the opportunity structure of the AMA. The region has institutional and economic factors that promote to start entrepreneurship, for example high quality of life and supportive organisations for migrants. Furthermore, social features, like the migrants’ background and their identity matter while starting a business. Nonja Peters (2002) argues that solely the mixed embeddedness model cannot explain the reason of starting a self-employment; several types of human characteristics need to be added. Therefore, for this paper cultural theory is taken to support the mixed embeddedness approach while giving an explanation of migrants’ decision to start self-employment in the Amsterdam Area. Cultural theory explains person’s characteristics, like determination to hard work and acceptance of risk, as contributing factors to start self-employment.

Location choice factors and cumulative causation are influencing migrants’ decisions to choose the AMA and the mixed embeddedness together with cultural factors explain the business establishment and reasons to stay in the area. Figure 2.2. shows the conceptual model of this research.

(24)

(25)

3. METHODOLOGY

This part of the paper is giving an overview of the different approaches implemented in human geography, in order to explain the methods, which are used to conduct this study and explain the certain choice. First sub-chapter is giving an overview of the existing approaches and introducing the methods chosen for this study. Second sub-chapter, is concentrating on the data collection and operationalisation. Additionally, this chapter is introducing sampling of the research and is explaining how the analysis is conducted. As a last step, the validity and reliability of this paper are explained and the privacy of the participants’ is proved.

In order to answer the research questions mixed research approach is chosen. The main research question is stated as following:

What are the migration motives, business experiences and future intentions of international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and how do the regional support systems cater to their needs?

The main research question is divided into four sub-questions:

1) What are the migration motives and business experiences of international entrepreneurs and what factors influence the choice of the AMA for their business activity?

2) What are the future intentions of the international migrant entrepreneurs regarding their companies?

3) What are the experiences of the international entrepreneurs with the support services that they have used in the AMA?

4) What are the main expectations of the international entrepreneurs and how do the regional support schemes cater to their needs?

The chapter is showing how the research questions were imbedded in the data collection in order to be able to come to valid conclusions.

(26)

3.1. Research approach choice

Within human geography discipline both quantitative and qualitative approaches are widely used to collect and analyse data. First one contains scientific rigour, statistical approach, mathematical modelling, giving an objective viewpoint about the topic researched. The second, qualitative methodology gives rather subjective results, emphasizing the information’s depth and richness. Qualitative approach allows to understand human emotions, values, behaviour and thoughts (Clifford, French & Valentine, 2010).

Current research is about the business experiences of international entrepreneurs and their opinions about the business climate in the AMA. Focus is on the support schemes in the area, to understand what entrepreneurs’ expectations are and how support systems cater to their needs. In this study, the aim is to find out the gaps of the service provision that migrant entrepreneurs are experiencing. Goal is to get the insight to the topic from the viewpoint of the entrepreneurs themselves and as mentioned previously qualitative research gives an opportunity to understand human behaviour while quantitative approach allows for an objective viewpoint.

In order to understand the opinions of humans and advance the knowledge about the feelings of international entrepreneurs, this paper is having an interpretivist research viewpoint. Interpretivism characterises human behaviour of different social roles. Their behaviour and feelings can be explained due to subjective interpretations (Leitch, Hill & Harrison, 2010). Therefore, the findings of this paper will represent the subjective and personal opinions of the participants of this research.

In order to find relevant results for the research question, the choice of the data collection method is crucial part of the study. To make conclusions on research topic, mixed methods data collection approach is chosen for this paper. Mixed methods is a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches, while one methodology backs up the results from the other method (Plano Clark & Ivankova, 2016). This approach gives an opportunity to use multiple sources, datasets and several analysing methods in order to reach to conclusions on one topic (Axinn & Pearce, 2006). Using different methods in data collection will lead to a stronger dataset, while one method covers the weaknesses of the other. For example, quantitative survey data supports with higher respondents’ number the qualitative interview answers, while the latter one gives a more in-depth understanding of human emotions. Concern coming from the mixed methods

(27)

choice, is the fact that neither of the data collection methods might not be on the highest quality, while concentration of the researcher is divided between methods (Axinn & Pearce, 2006). 3.1.1. Case Study

Case study method is used to explain the characteristics of social life (Hamel, Dufour & Fortin, 1993; Stake, 2011). This method is concentrating on a specific case – area, situation, event etc. – therefore the results cannot be descriptive for a larger population (Stake, 2011; Hammersley, Gomm & Foster,2009). The aim is to have an in-depth understanding of one example or case from the larger group (Gerring, 2006; Simons, 2009), instead of understanding the whole population. Case study explains the views of social actors through their personal interactions Importance is to understand the case study participants’ viewpoint, only then the conclusions can be drawn (Hamel, Dufour & Fortin, 1993).

Simons (2009) has advised how the case study method can be used to “generate knowledge and/or inform policy development” (p. 9). For this paper, one goal is to enhance the policymaking on the international entrepreneurship field; therefore, case study method is chosen to research the experiences of entrepreneurs only in one area of the Netherlands. Research focus on one region is characteristic of a case study, which gives an opportunity to analyse and make conclusions about the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area; however, the results do not reflect the tendencies of a larger population.

The concentration of the research is on the international entrepreneurs who are active in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA). The area consists of 32 municipalities of provinces Noord-Holland and Flevoland with the population of 2.4 million. The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is known as one of the strongest economic regions in Europe with its good infrastructure and educated population (Amsterdam Economic Board, n.d.). Solely in 2017, 143 new international companies entered to the Amsterdam’s business environment (City of Amsterdam, n.d.). The AMA is chosen because it is one of the most economically active areas in the Netherlands: it has large international population and is attractive for migrants of all backgrounds. The last sub-chapter from the methodology part is giving more in depth overview of the case study area.

(28)

3.2. Data collection and operationalisation

The interest group of the research is international migrant entrepreneurs who have already started their business activity in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Focus is on the one-man or small-scale businesses, excluding larger international corporations. Migrants can have different backgrounds and come from diverse business fields. Options are for example, employees who came to the Netherlands with highly skilled migrant visa, asylum seekers, candidates of self-employment and start-up visa, international students and scientific researchers, family members etc. There are no restrictions regarding the age, sex and ethnic origin as long as they are not born in the Netherlands. Only the first generation migrants are chosen, since the second generation can be considered as more integrated with the local rules, often speaking Dutch and having a larger local social circle to support them.

In order to be able to make conclusions on the topic, data collection process consists of three steps. Firstly, desk research on the existing literature, theories and municipalities’ policy documents is conducted; secondly, online survey for international entrepreneurs is prepared and as a last step, individual interviews with migrant business owners are organized.

3.2.1. Desk research

Firstly, desk research is conducted. Previous papers and literature on the field of highly skilled migrants’ location choices, migrant entrepreneurship and small-scale and one-man businesses are studied. The documents from the Municipality of Amsterdam, like the coalition agreement, Warm welcome talent report and webpage of the Municipality of Amsterdam are analysed. Basis for this study is the conceptual model of four theories, which are studied: location theory, cumulative causation, cultural theory and mixed embeddedness approach, which were already elaborated in the previous chapter. The model gives a first insight and understanding to the decision making of the entrepreneurs.

3.2.2. Survey

Secondly, a survey is created in order to select participants for the research. As the aim is to conduct individual interviews as a main research method, therefore finding suitable candidates is an important starting point for the study. Radboud University Qualtrics platform is used to create and publish the survey online. While looking for the respondents, the statement that the survey is only for the international self-employed citizens or starting entrepreneurs is added. However, in order to be sure that only the correct responses are obtained, the first question is added as a selection

(29)

whether the person is a self-employed or not. Besides, as the research is concentrating only on the AMA then the municipalities of the area were also included at the beginning of the survey. If the person is self-employed, they could continue with the survey, in the case of a negative response, the person is skipped through the survey.

Rest of the survey is divided into five blocks as following: location choices, support services, future plans, characteristics of the business and personal profile. First block about the location choices is concentrating on the start and reasons of the living period in the Netherlands. Under the topic of support services questions are related to the entrepreneurs’ need of support and evaluation of the current governmental support options. Third block is briefly concentrating on the future of the respondent’s business in the AMA. Last two parts of the survey are rather for the quantitative data about the company – the field, size and age, and the entrepreneur’s profile. All of the survey questions can be found in the Appendix A at the end of the paper.

Initially, the survey was published in StartupAmsterdam newsletter and Iamsterdam Twitter account (Figure 3.1.) in November 2018. Meanwhile a search function in social media channel LinkedIn was used, around 500 accounts stating “Founder/Owner” of a company in Amsterdam Area were contacted with a private message requesting to fill in the survey. Later on, social media app WhatsApp was used to share the survey in two groups which researcher is part of. Two groups together consist of more than 400 international women who live in Amsterdam, however all of who are not self-employed.

Figure 3.1. Survey published on Iamsterdam social media channel Twitter. (Iamsterdam, 2018, Nov28)

(30)

Survey is fully anonymous; however, it contains an open question where respondents could provide their email contacts if they are willing to take part in the next step of the research – an interview. During the period from November 2018 until October 2019 a total of 96 entrepreneurs answered to survey’s first question. However, as the survey questions were not compulsory, then the data also included partial responses as well as seven participants who only stated that they do not have a business in Amsterdam Area. The number of answers differs per question, while the maximum of responses per question is 57 and minimum 29.

Results of the survey are used as descriptive statistics to support the data collected from the interviews. Specific questions, which assist the research questions, are selected. As the number of participants’ answers differs per survey questions, therefore, for each question maximum of available responses is used. It leads to a situation, when some topics will have a more strong data results while fewer entrepreneurs answered to other questions. Therefore, in the analysis chapter, each time when survey results are presented also a reference to amount of responses is added. Full raw data received from the surveys is also shared with the Municipality of Amsterdam and the specific surveys, which were filled by the respondents of the final interviews, are used as a background, starting point and reference during the interview questions.

Eleven of total survey respondents provided their email addresses as showing the interest to be part of the next step of the research. All of the entrepreneurs, who provided their email contacts, received a request to schedule an interview with the researcher. However, only seven of the final respondents for the interviews took part in the last step as some of the respondents’ motivations were changed or time constraints occurred from the entrepreneurs’ side.

3.2.3. Individual interviews

As a third step, individual interviews are conducted with seven international entrepreneurs from the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area. Interviews are chosen as a main data collection method, as interviews lead to a better understanding about people’s emotions, behaviour and opinions, as well as give a range of distinct experiences from various actors (Longhurst, 2010).

Seven of the respondents’ contacts were received through the online survey as described previously. Interviews were conducted during the months of March and April in 2019 via telecommunication application Skype. Researcher provided an option to have a face-to-face or Skype call for the entrepreneurs. Mainly due to the time constraints and locational differences, for example one of the entrepreneurs was having a call from Georgia and another from South Africa;

(31)

all of the interviews were managed through a call. The advantage of a face-to-face interview is to have a chance to concentrate on the emotions while asking the questions, besides there can be obtained non-verbal communication while seeing the participant in their environment (Edwards & Holland, 2013). However as this paper’s goal is not to evaluate person’s emotions, but rather to have their opinions, then there is no harm seen to have all of the interviews conducted with a call function.

Interview guide is created to structure the conversation in a smooth way. Interview starts with the explanation of the research and pointing out the reason why the participant is chosen and how they can help. From each participant a permission to record the conversation is obtained, while the data is anonymized for the research.

Firstly, the participants have a chance to introduce themselves and talk about their business activity and the specifics about the company. The main questions of the interview are created based on the four research questions mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. For the seven respondents who had also filled out the survey, the conversation was built up based on their responses from the survey.

The first set of questions is about the reasons behind choosing the AMA instead of the other countries which are mentioned in participant’s surveys; exploring the participant’s knowledge of the area before moving and the factors which pushed the interviewees to start with self-employment. All of those topics are related to the first sub-question:

1) What are the migration motives and business experiences of international entrepreneurs and which factors influence the choice of the AMA for their business activity?

Then the interview is moving on to explore the expectations of the entrepreneur while starting a business activity in a foreign country. This question is raised to have an insight to research sub-question number four:

4) What are the main expectations of the international entrepreneurs and how do the regional support schemes cater to their needs?

Following set of questions is concentrating on the feeling of the entrepreneurs during different stages of business creation. The questions are created to understand whether entrepreneurs are aware of the possibilities that municipality is providing and whether the

(32)

information is readily available in a convenient way. Additionally, the evaluation of the support systems is questioned, whether the entrepreneurs are satisfied with the help they received. This block of questions is supporting the sub-question four, however mainly is connected with the third research sub-question:

3) What are the experiences of the international entrepreneurs with the support services

that they have used in the AMA?

Afterwards, a question is concentrating on the suggestions from the entrepreneurs to improve the current service provision in the AMA and another one which lets entrepreneurs openly describe their journey of becoming a business owner in the region, while concentrating on the ups and downs of this process.

The last block of questions, which is also the closing topic of the interviews, concentrates on the future of the plans of the participant’s company and their personal intentions. Furthermore, the reasons why they would like to stay or leave Amsterdam Area are explored. These topics would lead to an answer of the second research sub-question:

2) What are the future intentions of the international migrant entrepreneurs regarding their

companies?

Closing of the interview lets participants share any remaining opinions, discuss topics that were not covered and ask questions. Furthermore, participants are informed of the following steps of the study.

During the actual interview process some of the questions are mixed up in the order, thus the questions are not following the order of the research sub-questions, as also explained previously. Rather the emphasis is to keep the conversation in a logical and comfortable form for the participant. Full interview guide can be found in the Appendix B.

3.3. Sampling

Although, the interest group of this research is relatively broad, there are still some certain qualities that participants have to hold: foreign-born, an owner of a small-scale or one-man business, which is located in the Amsterdam Area. Therefore, this study is using purposeful sampling, meaning that the participants should have a wide variation within the specified category (Koerber & McMichael,

(33)

2008). The entrepreneurs who represented three previously mentioned qualities are chosen. Meanwhile, researcher is trying to select participants who would represent varied backgrounds on other characteristics – age, gender, nationality, education level, field, size and age of business, etc. Thus, this selection gives a better overview of the general opinion of the entrepreneurs.

Below are two tables of the interviewed participants, first one (Table 3.1.) is showing range of personal profiles including their age group, nationality, education level an the year of migration to the Netherlands..

Entrepreneur Age _group Nationality Education level

Year of migration to NL

Male Entrepreneur 1 19-23 British Bachelor student 2017 Male Entrepreneur 2 29-38 Welsh Master's degree 2013

Male Entrepreneur 3 39-53 Indian Master's degree 2009 or before Male Entrepreneur 4 29-38 Irish Less than high _school 2016

Female Entrepreneur 1 39-53 Ukrainian Master's degree 2015 Female Entrepreneur 2 39-53 South-_African Master's degree 2018

Female Entrepreneur 3 39-53 Canadian Bachelor’s degree 2009 or before

Table 3.1. Personal characteristics of the interview participants (own work).

The second one (Table 3.2.) displays the same entrepreneurs’ business characteristics, the year of business establishment, employee count and field of the company. Entrepreneurs are identified based on their gender and put in numerical order according to the date of the interview. The same reference is used throughout this paper.

(34)

Entrepreneur Business establishment

Employee

count Business field Male Entrepreneur 1 2018 1-5 Wholesale and retail

Male Entrepreneur 2 2018 1-5 Financial/ Computer Science and ICT

Male Entrepreneur 3 2015 11-15 E-commerce

Male Entrepreneur 4 2017 11-15 Computer Science and ICT Female Entrepreneur 1 2018 1-5 Computer Science and ICT Female Entrepreneur 2 2018 0 Learning and media

Female Entrepreneur 3 2016 1-5 Computer Science and ICT

Table 3.2. Business characteristics of the interview participants (own work).

3.4. Analysing methods

The objective of this paper is to analyse the support provision of the public institutions in the AMA towards starting international entrepreneurs in the region. Besides, the entrepreneurs’ migration motives, experiences with the business creation and future professional as well as personal intensions are studied.

Survey responses were collected on the period of November 2018 to October 2019, during this timeframe the survey was open in the online portal for the respondents. Contacting process of the potential respondents took place within this period; more specific approaches for this were described in the previous data collection sub-chapter. Collected raw data from the surveys was transferred into a conclusive report via Qualtrics platform. Report was used to convert data sets into descriptive statistics to represent the sample. Descriptive statistics can be used to show the outcomes of the research group; however these findings will not be generalizable for a larger population (Norman & Streiner, 2003).

Researcher conducted the interviews with entrepreneurs in spring of 2019 via Skype calls. At first interviews were recorded with Skype call recording function as well as with an external device to assure the availability and quality of the information. Later transcriptions were created using a standard verbatim method, meaning that recordings were written down word-by-word and left out were only the repetitions, false starts and background sounds. This way the transcript is cleaner and easier to read, however still presents the actual answers.

International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth. Case study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth

Case Study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

International talents as an asset for cities’ economic growth

Case Study: Support policies for international entrepreneurs in the

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3. METHODOLOGY